


I See Fire

by henley_sarah



Series: AHS Fics [6]
Category: American Horror Story, American Horror Story: Cult
Genre: Aftercare, Anxiety, BDSM, Batman References, Blow Jobs, Bondage, Cannibalism, Clowns, Cults, Cunnilingus, Dark, Demisexuality, Disfigurement, Dogs, Emotional Manipulation, Ethical Dilemmas, Ethics, Explicit Sexual Content, F/M, Family, Fear, Fingerfucking, Fluff, Forehead Touching, Homophobia, Inspired by Black Mirror, Jealousy, Kai is his own warning, LGBTQ Character, LGBTQ Themes, Light BDSM, Light Bondage, Love, Manipulation, Manipulative Relationship, Mental Health Issues, Money, Moral Dilemmas, Morality, Morally Ambiguous Character, Multiple Orgasms, Murder, Napping, Oral Sex, Orgasm, Overstimulation, Past Relationship(s), Philosophy, Porn, Psychological Trauma, Punishment, Rape/Non-con Elements, Riding, Romance, Rope Bondage, Satire, Scary Clowns, Secrets, Sex, Sex Toys, Sexual Content, Shameless Smut, Shower Sex, Smut, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, Torture, Touching, Trauma, Triggers, Vaginal Fingering, Vaginal Sex, Vibrators, Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-22
Updated: 2018-10-22
Packaged: 2019-08-06 03:44:59
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 25
Words: 34,708
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16380758
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/henley_sarah/pseuds/henley_sarah
Summary: And if the night is burning, I will cover my eyes. For if the dark returns, then my brothers will die. And as the sky is falling down, it crashed into this lonely town, and with that shadow upon the ground, I hear my people screaming out, "I see fire.""I know it's sudden, and I'm sorry, but-" He said and I gave a little laugh. "What?""Three," I said and he gave me a confused look. "We've been talking for less than two minutes, and you've already said sorry three times for things that aren't your fault."He blinked, then the corners of his lips twitched up into a smile. "Guess I can't apologize for that, then. Can I buy you a cup of coffee?"





	1. Chapter 1

The move to Michigan was a bit rough, but it was all better when my uncles greeted me to bring me to my new home.

The house was fairly large with a huge yard behind a gate, Ayam Cemani chickens scattered across the yard. They were completely black birds with greenish purplish sheens to their feathers. They were honestly beautiful to me.

My uncles traveled the world, and they were what I liked to call "humble rich," meaning they had a lot of money, sure, but they wore normal casual clothes and never bragged about their wealth. They went to normal ass places for affordable coffee, food, books, just whatever. Therefore, they were humbly rich.

They helped me bring my things into my new room, which was probably twice the size of my room at my old house. They left me to unpack my things and told me they could drive me into town whenever I wanted for decorations for my room.

They were honestly the best, and the last people in my family I actually liked. So with my mom passing last week, I had no one to turn to, no idea what to do with myself. At the reception, before she was cremated, my uncle Noah and his husband Louis offered to let me move in with them. I liked them, and my mom trusted Noah the most out of her brothers, so I agreed.

After I had everything organized, I slipped my phone into my back pocket and went downstairs to their kitchen. A dog almost tripped me, and I gave a smile to the happy blonde dog with the wagging tail.

"She's always trying to trip people, Blondie is," Louis said, and waved me into the kitchen.

They had five dogs, all different breeds. There was also an aquarium in the living room, and of course, the chickens.

"Hey, Charlie. Sour cream and onion are your favorite chips, right?" Noah called.

"Yeah." I walked in with a smile, then saw he had made me a sandwich and was putting some chips on the plate, and there was a glass teacup of steaming tea waiting, too.

"You didn't have to do that." I smiled.

"I promised your momma I'd take care of you if anything ever happened to her, and I don't break promises." He said, blue eyes twinkling behind thick glasses.

I took a sip of the tea before I began eating, listening to them talk about the animals. The only ones that had names were the dogs, as fish didn't really need names, and all the chickens looked the same.

There was Blondie, who was a corgi; Sweetie, a black lab shepherd mix; Pudding, a brown beagle; Brownie, a brown vizla; and Sugar, who was a white border collie.

They came in and out of the backyard as they pleased, and the chickens knew when to go into their coop. All we really had to do was keep all of them fed and watered... except the fish, as fish didn't drink.

Noah asked if I wanted to check out the town, and I said I'd go tomorrow when I wasn't so tired. So when I was done eating, I headed up to my room, getting goodnight wishes from both of them. I called back 'night' to them, and got myself ready for bed, washing off the two tons of makeup I wore, and tying my half and half hair up into a messy ass bun to sleep in.

I put my earbuds in and watched some Netflix until I couldn't keep my eyes open any longer, and plugged my phone up to charge as I slept.

My alarm woke me up at nine the next morning, and I turned it off, then took my earbuds out of the jack and checked up on notifications as I woke up bit by bit.

I went down to the kitchen in my T-shirt and flannel pants, seeing tea and toast already ready on the island in the middle of the kitchen.

"Morning. How'd you sleep?" Louis asked as he sipped from a cup of coffee.

"Like a baby." I gave a small smile as I poured myself some tea. I had already fallen in love with these glass cups.

"I was thinking last night, Charlie. You remembered to switch banks?" Noah looked over at me from where he was washing strawberries.

"Yes," I nodded.

"And pharmacies?" His eyebrow rose.

"I did the pharmacy before I did the bank." I nodded and drank some tea.

They told me about what sort of places were towns, stores I might be interested in, restaurants they liked, and places I might be interested in finding work. I worked in a bookstore before moving, and apparently, there were a few in this town, so maybe I'd have some luck there.

Of course, I'd have to check out a lot of places to see who was open to hiring people with dyed hair and tattoos (I wasn't really a piercing person).

Speaking of, I'd also have to check out the tattoo shops and see if I liked anyone's art around here enough to be on my body. I had a couple of different artist's work on me, but they all had relatively the same style of going for more realistic looking tattoos.

After some toast, tea, and strawberries, I went up to get myself ready for the day. I made sure my hair was perfectly parted down the middle, each color on its correct side. Green on my left, purple on my right. I did my makeup a little more tame than I usually did, keeping with a neutral eye, but kept my sharp ass liner and long lashes. I followed the same sort of makeup style like Instagram models or makeup influencers did, as that's mostly how I learned how to do makeup. Them, and drag queens.

Noah then told me he and Louis still had things to do at home, but I could go on ahead. I got myself an Uber to take me to one of the bookstores and gave a five-star rating and a tip when I stepped out of the car. I got in and immediately was calmed by the smell of books and coffee, and the atmosphere of the place. Better yet, the guy who greeted me at the register when I came in had piercings all in his ears and a neck tattoo.

Fucking perfect.

I looked around, picking up a book here and there to read a bit and decide if I was interested, and had a few in my arms to buy. When I was checking out, I asked the guy if they were hiring by any chance, and he said they were always looking for help. He then tucked an application packet in the plastic bag with my books. I thanked him and walked out, not really sure where to go next. There was a cafe across the street, so I went with people across the crosswalk and ducked in there to Google places around to check out.

I got myself a cup of tea and sat at a table, looking at the search results and figuring out what was where.

After some time, I'd figured it out, and then got a call from Noah. He asked where I was, and I told them the cafe, and he said they were going to pick me up and take me to a surprise. I finished up my tea and went to look for their car outside, knowing they'd easily be able to find me. It's not as if I blended into a crowd, really.

Their silver SUV pulled up, and I got in, and Louis drove off again. I paid a little attention and found we were parking at a car dealership. And it wasn't really used cars, either... No, these were new cars.

"What's happening?" I asked, not wanting to jump to conclusions.

"A sort of welcoming gift." Louis gave me a smile.

"Oh, no... You don't have to." I said, but they both gave me looks that told me I had no say in it, we were doing this.

Did I also mention they were extremely caring and loved to give? Because they did that, too.

I just wish the rest of our family were half as caring as they were.


	2. Chapter 2

I had a dark gray SUV, license plate 'HAHAHA' and an electronic key to the gate. All I had to do was press a button on a remote when I got close, and it would open for me, and once I drove in, I'd press the lock button, and it could close and lock itself in place until the open button was hit again. Pretty damn secure.

I was right now in town to turn my job application in and ducked into the store. The guy got the manager on hand for me, and I gave him the application. He gave me a smile and said he'd call in a few days.

I left the store, thinking about heading down to the grocery store to get myself either cookies or ice cream when some asshole bumped into me and made me drop my keys.

"Don't get all hurt and cut yourself over it, you emo fuck." One guy in a group of three said as his friends laughed.

I rolled my eyes and went to go pick up my keys, but someone had beaten me to it. I looked up and saw a guy with long blue hair holding my keys to me.

"Thanks," I gave him a smile and took them back.

"Sure. Sorry about those assholes." He nodded down the sidewalk, and I just chuckled softly.

"It's alright. I'm pretty used to it." I gave a small shrug. "That was actually pretty tame compared to other things I've heard."

"I'm sorry about those assholes, too, then." He hummed, still looking at me. Goddamn, he had some dark eyes. Almost insane looking, but I didn't judge.

"I'm Kai." He then introduced himself.

"I'm Charlie." I continued to smile to be polite.

"I'm curious. Why not tell those pricks off?" He asked and I smiled a bit wider.

"I just turned in a job application to that bookstore. I don't think it would do me very well if the manager were to look out and see me yelling profanities at someone." I said, and he gave a small laugh.

"I know it's sudden, and I'm sorry, but-" He said and I gave a little laugh. "What?"

"Three," I said and he gave me a confused look. "We've been talking for less than two minutes, and you've already said sorry three times for things that aren't your fault."

He blinked, then the corners of his lips twitched up into a smile. "Guess I can't apologize for that, then. Can I buy you a cup of coffee?"

It took me about a second to decide. "Sure. As long as you promise not to kidnap me after." I said, made sure my car was locked, then tucked my keys back in my bag as I walked down the sidewalk with him.

"Promise." Kai hummed. "I was only going to murder you after."

"I can live with that." I nodded, then realized what I said, and a grin came to my lips. "Ha, 'live with that.'"

Kai just shook his head at me, making me grin wider. He leads me to a fancier type of cafe where you sat and got ceramic mugs of whatever you ordered and were waited on. Fucking wild.

"So, why did you want to buy me coffee?" I asked after we had ordered, and Kai stared at me from where he sat across from me.

"I wanted to invite you over to my house to talk, but seeing as we've just met..." He hummed, and I nodded in understanding.

"So, what did you want to talk about?" I then asked.

"You like clowns, don't you, Charlie?" He asked, and I just blinked. "Your jacket has a clown on the back of it, and that doesn't look too be a cheap jacket, either. Not to mention your license plate is literally 'ha ha ha.'"

I gave a small shrug. "Some people think I have an obsession."

"Do you have an obsession?" He asked.

"I'd call it more of a fixation." I nodded slowly. "More than a liking, but I'm not quite obsessed."

Kai then leaned forward a bit to me. "And that's why I think you're perfect. You're exactly what I'm looking for in my group of friends." He said in a slightly lower voice, and I began to see something wrong with this picture but didn't let my suspicion show on my face.

Our drinks came, and I lifted my white mug of cafe mocha with both hands and took a sip, licking some whip cream off my lip.

"You're used to being ridiculed, picked on. You're angry at those who don't accept you as a person, and you have every right to be. No one can dictate who you are and how you choose to express yourself. That's bullshit. No one should be used to being mistreated. And don't even try to tell me you're not tired of it, because that's bullshit, too." He said, his facial expression never changing. He hardly blinked either.

"You're... mostly right. Only wrong about two things." I said, and he blinked.

"Okay. What was I wrong about?" He asked.

"I'm not angry at people who don't accept me, and I'm not tired of it," I said, and he looked a bit surprised. "I don't give a shit what anyone thinks about how I look. It's my choice, after all. You were right about that bit. And I'm not tired of it, I've just accepted being made fun of is a part of life, and it only bothers me if I let it bother me." I gave a small shrug and drank some more.

Kai stared at me for a moment then. "I guess that's admirable, too." He said and took s drink.

"Am I not perfect anymore?" I asked with a smile, and Kai just blinked.

"No, you're still perfect." He shook his head slightly.

"So tell me, what's the... goal of your uh, friend group?" I asked, and he raised a brow.

"Why'd you say it like that?" He asked.

"You don't think I'm that dumb, do you?" I tilted my head slightly, and he gave the tiniest of an amused smile again.

"Our goal is world domination." He said, and I decided to go ahead and listen, just hear him out. "We're starting small, getting me on the city council, then we'll get more followers, climb up the ranks till we get to the top."

"That's a very well thought out plan." I hummed, and his brows furrowed again. "Not many people even know what a city council is for. It's practically ignored. Either shoot higher, or work from behind the scenes." I took a drink.

"Behind the scenes?" He asked.

"Get someone with a good title in your pocket. Get them to be a leader, and all you've got to do is whisper in their ear. And, as a bonus, if things go to shit, you don't get blamed. If people don't like what's happening, you don't get targeted. Create a martyr." I said.

"Easier said than done," Kai said.

"Still easier to do than climbing the ranks yourself." I drank, my mug almost empty now. "I'd think it'd be especially easy for you, Kai. You almost got me there, I'll be honest."

His lips parted in surprise at me. "Got you?"

"Trying to manipulate a manipulator doesn't really work too well. The flattery, making it seem like you relate to me, making my so-called struggles seem valid... you were going to offer to fix all my problems if I joined this group of yours, weren't you? Yeah... you'd probably say something along the lines of, 'you'll never have to deal with people like that again,' or something." I nodded slowly in thought as Kai just continued to stare at me.

He then swallowed thickly and reached into his pocket, then handed me a card. "The address of my headquarters. At least think it over."

I took the card and slipped it in my bag, deciding to at least think about it.


	3. Chapter 3

When I got home, I sat on my bed and stared at the card. I chewed on my lip and sighed deeply, hating to admit that I was actually really curious about what they did.

I mean, shit, how many times are you offered to join a cult or gang in your life?

I decided to swing by around one in the afternoon the next day, hair did, makeup done, dressed as I normally did, with my clown jacket on.

When I rang the doorbell, a girl with silver hair in sort of goth clothes answered.

"Can I help you?" She asked.

"I'm looking for Kai?" I asked, and she opened the door wider to let me in. She leads me to a door that opened to some stairs. She mumbled a little 'down here' and I followed her down.

The basement had a sofa, some armchairs, basically what looked like an entertainment space, and a table with two chairs. Kai was sitting on the sofa and looked at us as we came in.

"Thanks, Winter." He hummed and stood up, turning off the TV, and went over to the table. She turned to leave, and I just went over to the table with Kai. He sat down, so I set my bag on the ground and sat down, too.

"Is it a cult or a gang?" I asked as he stared.

"Cult." He answered.

"So you give your followers, your friends, something to believe in," I said, and he nodded, so I leaned forward a little.

"Give me something to believe in, then."

Kai continued to stare at me, not blinking for the longest time. "They believe in me, and I believe in them. I'd do anything for my friends. I'd kill for my friends. All I ask is that they'd do the same for me."

"That just sounds to me like you want to be their backbone, and you want loyalty," I said.

"I never said I asked for much." He gave a small shrug. "You want more than a backbone, than a support system?"

"Being in a cult sort of runs in my family," I said. "Mom's side. Let's just say I know what to expect."

Kai looked a little amused again, then held up his pinky. "This is a sort of trust exercise, sort of an interview. Once you take my pinky, you have to answer all my questions with complete honesty. I'll know if you're lying."

"What's stopping me from lying? Honor code?" I just blinked, unimpressed.

"You're more malevolent than I thought..." He hummed, and I rolled my eyes and locked my pinky with his.

"I'll go easy on you for the first few," Kai said, then his eyes traced my face a little. "What color and type of underwear are you wearing right now?"

I laughed a little at that, looking down to peek at my hipbone. "Black thong with gold stars," I answered, looking back at him.

"You didn't remember?" He looked a little more amused.

"I honestly don't even pay attention." I gave a shrug.

"What is the worst pain you've ever felt?" He asked.

"Menstrual cramps," I said, knowing that one right off the bat.

"Bullshit," Kai said.

"Nope." I shook my head, staring him in the eye as he was doing to me. "My doctor calls it endo like symptoms. Cramps to the point where I couldn't move just because it hurt too much when I tried."

"Alright. What's the best pleasure you've ever felt?" He asked, and I smirked a little, knowing that one pretty quickly, too.

"I was eighteen and tried some fingering trick I read online. One hundred percent worth it." I said.

"What trick?" He asked, and I gave him a little look.

"When you curl your fingers inside her, use your other hand to press down a little on her pelvis with your palm," I said, and he didn't look phased in the slightest.

"What happened when you tried it?"

"First time I ever squirted," I said as if it were the most casual thing in the world.

"What fills your heart with dread?" He asked, and I hummed for a little while as I thought.

"The thought that I'm insignificant to anything happening anywhere in the universe. I mean nothing, my existence means nothing to all that could be going on out there." I said, getting a blink and a little-averted eye movement from him.

"What are you afraid of?" He asked, and I let a little smile come to my lips.

"I'm going to go ahead and assume you mean a deep, dark fear?" I asked, and Kai nodded, so I took a breath. "I'm afraid of dying alone."

He opened his mouth, but I cut him off.

"Don't you dare say it's bullshit. It goes deeper than some 'I'm going to be alone forever' bull." I said and he shut his mouth. "It's the thought that nobody will love me until the day I die. It's that I will have to go through life unloved. It's me wondering if I'm even worthy of love, and who would be willing to love me anyway? It's the idea that I'm so fucked up that the mere idea of someone loving me, not even in a romantic way, is entirely implausible."

Kai was quiet for a moment when I finished. "You're worthy of love." He said softly.

"Says who?" I retorted.

"Says me."

"And who are you to decide that?" I asked, surprised when he didn't falter for a second with answering.

"Someone willing to give you love to erase that fear." He said, and I just stared with a tilted head.

"You hardly know me. You can't give away love to someone you hardly know." I said.

"Says who?" Kai just asked, and I fell quiet, as I didn't have an answer.

"How do you think people see you?" Kai just continued with the questions.

"You know how people see me." I shook my head.

"But how do _you_ think they see you?" He emphasized.

I gave a little sigh. "I think they see a stereotype. They see a phase, a rebel, probably a troublemaker that has a problem with authority. I think they see a girl who's fake depressed who cuts for attention and smokes just because they think it's cool. They see someone who will complain about not being able to get a job, but will also get a face tattoo."

"Have you ever hurt yourself?" He asked.

"No."

"Do you smoke?"

"No."

"Are you a rebel troublemaker with a problem with authority?" He asked, and I just tilted my head in thought.

"I once screamed when a toaster went off next to me when I wasn't expecting it, so I'm going to go ahead and say no." I nodded, and he actually gave a little laugh. I smiled as he straightened himself out again.

"What's something you don't tell people?" He asked.

"How the fuck do you expect me to narrow that list down?" I asked.

"Just tell me the worst." His hand shifted slightly, holding our hands up a little higher.

I blinked, considering not telling him what just popped into my mind, but he caught me.

"Tell me everything, Charlie." He leaned forward, eyes boring into mine.

I licked my lips a little nervously. "For as long as I can remember, I've felt as if I was being watched every second of the day. It's this sort of nagging thought in the back of my head." I said softly.

"Every second? Even when you're showering?"

"Yep." I nodded.

"When you're taking a shit?"

"Yeah..."

"When you're fingering yourself?"

"Yes..." I said even softer.

His brows then furrowed. "Right now?"

"Right now." I gave a nod, letting my eyes dart to the corner behind his left shoulder.

He looked behind him, then back at me. "There's no one watching you, Charlie. It's just us here."

"I know. Doesn't make the feeling go away, though." I looked at the table where our elbows rested, now sort of ashamed that I had told someone that.

Kai reached over with his free hand and lifted my chin, making me look at him.

"Tell me something you don't want me to know." He said softly.

"I just did," I said just as soft, not blinking or averting my eyes even a bit.

Kai then dropped my hand and came around to my side of the table, and he held my face with both of his hands, and I continued to look at him, keeping my face calm.

"I said I'd do anything for my friends, and I consider you my friend, Charlie. I'll give you my love and make you know without a doubt that you're worthy of love. I'll keep you safe, I'll ensure that nobody is ever watching you." He said.

I closed my eyes and shook my head slowly. "You don't have to-" I started.

"Hey. Ah, ah, ah. Look at me." Kai tilted up my face even more, and he sounded closer. I opened my eyes and saw he was leaning down and now face to face with me.

"I want to." He said slowly so I would get it, and I gave in and nodded.


	4. Chapter 4

Some days later, I scored the job at the bookstore, and Kai had invited me over. I was almost certain it was so I could meet everyone else in his cult, and with me being anxious and all, I showed up around ten minutes early.

Kai answered the door this time and took my hand as he leads me down to the basement. I sat on the couch next to him, setting my bag on the floor, and felt him touch the back of my hair as I bent over.

"Why green and purple?" He asked, just running his fingers through the waves as I sat up again.

"My favorite colors." I smiled softly. "Also very clownish colors, which is probably why they're my favorite."

Kai just hummed and kept feeling my hair, which I actually kind of liked. I never let anyone touch my hair, shit, I usually never let anyone touch me in general.

"You want me to stop?" He asked softly, his hand pausing.

"No, I don't mind," I said, and he turned my back to him, bringing my hair behind my shoulders to play with it more. Kai playing with my hair was bringing down my anxiety some, which I was grateful for.

"When you meet the others, you don't have to do all that fake smiley shit, you know?" He hummed.

"I can't help it. It's hardwired into me." I sighed.

"Look at me," Kai said, and I turned around to face him. "There is no reason to convince people you're friendly or whatever when you first meet them. Absolutely no point."

I had no real retort, so I just kept quiet and nodded. He was right, I didn't have to be smiling constantly around people. It honestly hurts my cheeks.

"Atta girl." He gave a quick little smile as he touched my cheek, then turned my head to continue with my hair. I laughed softly and let him.

"I don't think anyone's been so interested in my hair since I was eight," I said.

"What happened?" He asked, pulling my hair back from my neck.

"This boy in my class told me he wanted to cut my hair off and stuff it into a pillow because it was so soft," I said, and Kai laughed behind me.

"I think he may have been a psychopath." He chuckled, his fingers brushing lightly against my neck.

"I think so, too." I smiled widely.

As I was turned around, I noticed a corner looking especially dark, and I kept my eye on it. Kai seemed to notice, and he pushed my hair back and his chin rested on my shoulder as his hands gently held my waist.

"There's no one over there, Charlie." He said softly to me, and I nearly shivered at how close he was and how low his voice was so close to my ear. "I promise. There's nothing over there."

"I know..." I sighed. "It just feels like there is," I said very softly, still embarrassed a bit about it.

I then had a thought. "Would you tell anyone?" I asked in a very quiet voice.

"No," Kai whispered back to me. "Don't you trust me?"

"Just checking." I hummed and let my eyes fall from the corner to look at where he laid his head on my shoulder. We were quiet for a moment before he spoke again.

"What kind of underwear are you wearing today?" He asked and I gave a little laugh. He raised his head off my shoulder and I turned to look at him, his hands still on my waist.

"Why do you want to know?" I asked, raising a brow at him.

"Just curious." Kai shrugged.

I rolled my eyes with a smile. "Gray and red tanga."

"What the fuck is a tanga?" He just stared.

"It's like a thong, but has a little more material," I explained.

"You women have too many types..." He sighed, and I gave a little smile.

"Can you tell me about your friends? Just so I know who's who?" I asked, and Kai leaned back against the couch, sorry of taking me with him.

"Beverly Hope, she's a news reporter. Winter Anderson is my sister, the one with the silver hair. Ivy Mayfair-Richards is this sort of boyish looking lesbian liberal. Harrison Wilton is this gay guy, and his wife, Meadow, makes all the masks and costumes." He then gave me a little look. "She's really fucking irritating, just try to ignore her."

I smiled with a nod, and he went on. "Jack Samuels is a detective, he comes in handy when there's a murder. Gary Longstreet is just a guy who manages a grocery store... and R.J. is Beverly's cameraman." Kai finished with a nod.

He then lifted a hand and smoothed down my hair. "They're going to love you. I already know it."

I was about to ask how when the door opened and some people came down the stairs. A blonde woman, a brunet man, a guy with nearly white hair, a black woman, and a younger man trailing behind her.

"Meadow, Harrison, Jack, Beverly, and R.J," Kai said to me as I matched names with faces in my mind. "Gary and Winter should be here soon, and Ivy's usually a little late." He hummed and continued to play with my hair. They took seats, and Kai was just focused on my hair, which I was trying my hardest not to be amused by.

Gary, Winter, and Ivy soon came down, and Kai let his hand drop from my hair before he spoke up.

"No one in here is blind, so you can all see we have a new friend." He said, and I gave a quick smile to everyone, but let it drop after a second. "This is Charlie." He said, then they gave their names, and their names were starting to stick in my mind.

"I don't think I've ever seen you before," Beverly said.

"I moved here about a week ago," I said, and she nodded. Kai just raised his hand back up to my hair, twirling a strand around his finger before he started talking.

"Do you know how a colony of bees work, Charlie?" He asked and I gave a little nod. "Every bee has its own role, one job that only they can do, and it keeps the hive running smoothly."

Kai then smoothed down my hair, and I turned my head slightly to look at him. "Everyone here has a role, has a job. We need to keep the hive working properly, don't we?"

"What's my job?" I asked, and Kai tilted his head just a little.

"I have a few ideas. I just have to decide which one would best suit you." He explained, and I gave a nod.

The meeting went on and they discussed plans, and I listened closely to not miss anything, and also to think up an alternate course of action. I didn't speak up all that often, as I really didn't have much of anything to contribute yet. Kai remained next to me, absentmindedly playing with the ends of my hair as he spoke. I didn't think he even realized he was doing it.

When the meeting concluded, I reached for my bag to leave with everyone else, but Kai put an arm to my chest and made me sit straight again.

"You were awfully quiet, Charlie." He hummed, gazing at me, and I looked back over at him.

"I just didn't have anything to contribute. I don't want to spout useless things and just waste time." I gave a little shrug.

Kai hummed and held my chin as he stared into my eyes. He then gave a slow nod, as if he were impressed.

"Good," He started. "I'd hate to hurt a pretty thing like you."

That made me arch a brow. "If you raise a hand at me, I will cut off your hands," I said so he knew I was serious.

He then moved his hand from my chin to run his thumb across my cheek. "You don't hurt people you love. It's wrong." Kai said softly.

I continued to stare, letting my face drop to a neutral expression. "I don't understand how you say you love someone so easily... so quickly."

"You don't need to understand. Just know it's true."


	5. Chapter 5

Some days later I had gotten off work around two in the afternoon and came home to get a shower to get the smell of coffee off of me and all the sweat from carrying boxes full of books. So I plugged my phone up to charge as I got my shower, and thought to myself as I did so.

Beverly and R.J. had news coverage, Jack was with the police, Gary had a public store... so what were the Milton's and Ivy for? I've yet to figure that out. If I could figure out their roles, then I could maybe help Kai decide on my role.

When I was done, I dried off and put a T-shirt and a pair of track shorts on, and tied my hair up in a towel to help it dry as I walked back to my room. Then I saw someone was in my room, and I jumped, giving a small squeak until I saw who it was.

"Jesus fuck, Kai, you scared me." I sighed, then kicked my door closed. "What are you doing here?"

"You weren't answering your phone." He said from a chair at the desk in my room.

"So... you decided you couldn't wait for me to call you back?" I raised my eyebrow, checking my phone, and saw three missed calls from him.

"You could've been dead. How was I supposed to know?" Kai just shrugged, and I stared at him before giving a breathless little laugh.

"You're impossible." I sighed with a smile. "So, why'd you call? What's up?" I set my phone back down.

"You actually live here." He hummed, looking around, and I tried not to be too amused. "Chickens?" He then looked at me.

"They're pretty birds. Especially that breed." I nodded to the front lawn. "You're avoiding the question."

"What's that sweet smelling thing?" He took a sniff.

"Probably my soap and lotion. Still avoiding the question." I just gazed at him.

"So which one is your uncle by blood?" He looked back to me.

"Noah, the shorter one. Come here." I said, and he got up and sat on my bed, still looking at me as I sat up, leaning just a little bit closer.

"Stop avoiding the question," I said softly. "You wouldn't have called three times and come over for nothing."

Kai's dark eyes continued to stay locked on mine. He took a breath before speaking lowly. "I figured out your role."

"And?" I asked.

"And it's a fairly large role, and I'm not even sure if you'll want to do it or not." He said, and I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a little scared.

"What is it?" I kept looking at him.

"Be my second in command, Charlie," Kai said softly, and I wasn't sure what I was feeling. "Every President needs a First Lady, every king a queen." Kai reached up and just brushed my cheek with his fingers.

"You're sure you want me to do that?" I asked and he nodded.

"The first time we met, you were already suggesting alternate strategies, like making a martyr. I feel like you're smarter than you let on. You have ideas, you just don't want to share them for some reason. Why?" Kai's head tilted slightly.

"I'm the newest member. Who's honestly going to take what I say seriously?" I blinked because that was fairly obvious.

"I take what you say seriously." Kai just said, and I bit the inside of my lip, knowing he was right in that aspect.

"Besides, Charlie..." He turned even more towards me, one hand cupping my face. "You and I, we match. We match more than anyone else of our friends. You're not stupid, I know you see it too."

I just blinked, my brows twitching. "What about Winter? She's your sister. Wouldn't it make more sense if..." I said but trailed off as Kai shook his head.

"Winter doesn't even like me. She doesn't share my beliefs." He sighed, and I kept quiet and watched him. He raised his other hand and let it rest on the side of my neck, and I watched him carefully.

"What can I do that will make you say yes?" Kai asked.

"You don't have to do anything." I shook my head.

"What if I want to do something?" He blinked once at me.

"Why would you want to do something?" I asked, just a little confused.

"So you can be a hundred percent sure that you can trust me. You can come to me with anything." Kai moved just a little closer to me, his thumbs brushing across my cheeks. "What can I do?" He whispered.

I was just lost. "I don't know," I said softly. "You... you don't have to do anything. I'll be your second."

"Really?" Kai gave me a little smile, and I nodded. "That makes me really happy."

Kai then lowered my head a bit and placed a kiss on my forehead. I didn't mind, but I also wasn't expecting it.

It wasn't until he left when I realized what just went down. I swore as I unwrapped the towel from around my head and flipped my hair back, then glared at my reflection.

He was using a reward system on me. The first meeting, that was him just testing my boundaries. He was just seeing if I was alright with him touching my hair, my waist, my face, getting close to me... So now he knew what didn't bother me, he'd use it as a reward system when I'd do something or agree to something. He practically gave it away by telling me that I made him 'really happy' and just sealed it with a little kiss.

I swear, I'm not this gullible.

It did make me wonder, though; if this was his reward system, what was his punishment system? He's talked about not wanting to hurt me, which made me threaten him if he did, and more or less say he wouldn't... I think?

Kai only said it was wrong to hurt people you love. But Kai doesn't seem like the type of person who operates in right and wrong.

That suddenly scared me. Kai was... undoubtedly stronger than I was. Shit, Harrison was his personal trainer. Just looking at this logically, he could a hundred percent hurt me if he wanted to. And to make matters worse, if I were to make good on my threat and cut his hands off... how? How the fuck would I even attempt to do that? In what possible way could I fight or restrain him to give me a chance?

Hold up, how was I even supposed to believe he actually loved me? As I said, I don't care if it's not a romantic love. It can be platonic love or a family sort of love, but still. How do I know? How the hell was I supposed to look for evidence to believe him in the first place?

Why did I want to believe him so bad?

I put some music on from my phone and went over to my vanity and grabbed my hairbrush to sort out this damp, tangled mess.

I continued to think as I worked the brush through, trying to figure out how I could know for certain if he loved me without getting manipulated in the process. Damn, can you say trust issues?

I lowkey hated myself for being this conscious of what he was doing. I feel everything might be easier if I was a mindless little sheep. (It wasn't until after I had that thought that I realized I was talking like a stereotype and wiped the thought from my mind.)

But honestly, what could be so bad about falling for fool's gold, forcing me to be blind?


	6. Chapter 6

I was at a computer at the help desk, doing a little inventory check, and someone stepped up. I put that on hold, grabbing a sticky note and writing where I was down as I asked what I could help them with. When I looked up, I saw Meadow standing there.

"Meadow. Hey." I kept the smile on my face.

"Why?" She asked with a dead blank stare, confusing me. She was much more cheerful when we met.

"Why what?" I asked, slightly turning my head as I tried to figure what the fuck she was trying to do.

"Why did he pick you?" She asked, then gave a fake little giggle. "You're brand new. You haven't even done anything yet. Kai's not an idiot, so why the fuck would he ever put someone like you, fucking you, as his second in command?"

I kept my mouth shut, my smile dropped, and I sneakily pressed the security button under the desk.

"How wide did you spread your whore legs for him? Huh? The only thing that makes a man that smart act stupid is pussy. You come in with your expensive makeup and clothes and what? You expect to just take over? You never even spoke up the last meeting! Or was your mouth too full of his come to speak?" She spat venom at me, and I ignored my racing heart and my blood boiling in my veins from anger.

Security came and escorted her out, and my manager came to me, asking if I was alright. I gave a shaky breath, and he gave me a break for as long as I needed.

So I went out a side exit to an alley beside the store and called Kai as I leaned against the wall, trying to keep myself from gritting my teeth too hard and give myself a headache.

"Charlie?" He answered.

"Are you busy?" I asked and cursed myself for letting my voice wobble.

"No. Where are you?" He asked and I heard a little rustling.

"Alley beside the bookstore," I said, trying to calm my voice.

"I'll be there in a few minutes." He said, and we hung up, and I spent those minutes, just being angry at a lot of things. I was angry at Meadow, of course, but I was also angry that I crying like a pussy from how angry I was.

I was clearing the last of my tears when Kai came into the alley, actually looking a little worried as he stood in front of me.

"What happened?" He asked, holding my face.

"Fucking Meadow." I spat, and his brows twitched a little.

"Tell me everything." He said, and I couldn't stop myself from ranting if I tried. I told him everything she said, making sure to include how she called me a whore, "like she isn't thirsty for dick twenty-four seven." Kai listened, and I was touched that he showed the slightest signs of emotion on his normally emotionless face.

When I was done, I angrily wiped away a few tears that escaped and just sighed. "Sorry," I then mumbled for making him listen to all of that, especially about one of his own members.

"No, you have nothing to be sorry about." Kai tilted my face up, and he was standing a lot closer to me than before.

"Do you want her dead?" He then asked me, looking into my eyes, and I laughed just a little.

"No," I said, then let my smile drop. "I want her tongue cut out to keep her from talking shit."

Kai stared at me for a second before he smiled and softly chuckled. "That's my girl." He praised, stroking my cheek, making me smile a little.

I suddenly had the urge to kiss him, but I wasn't sure if he would be alright with that. Instead, I let myself come forward a few inches and wrap my arms around him in a hug. Kai brought his arms around me as well, and he placed a kiss on the top of my head.

"Keep your phone close by tonight. I'll be swinging by later." He said and I nodded.

He left, and I was feeling better, so I got myself back to work after making sure I didn't look too horrible.

Later that day, I turned my ringer on for once and kept my phone either on me or close to me. It wasn't until about eleven thirty when he called and told me he'd be there in about ten minutes.

I made myself a cup of tea and watched at the window, by the button that would open the gate from inside the house.

When a car pulled up, I pressed the button and watched the car drive in. I got rid of my mug and muted my phone, then opened the door to let him in. I rose my eyebrow at the duffle bag on his shoulder, and he put a finger to his lips, then went up to my room. I closed the gate and locked up before I went up, closing my bedroom door behind me.

"Harrison and Meadow are at the hospital so she won't bleed out. Harrison knows about Meadow coming to see you today. This will obviously be seen as an attack, Jack will be investigating it for the cops, and of course, you'll be on the suspect list." He hummed, setting his bag on my bed and sorted through it.

"What's the bag for?" I asked.

"For me." Kai then looked up at me. "I'm your alibi."

I then understood and nodded. "Bathroom's right across the hall. Have you eaten?" I asked, hoping he didn't skip dinner to do this or anything.

"Aw. Look at you trying to take care of me." He said, and I gave a sheepish smile.

"Shut up," I mumbled and Kai just walked out and to the bathroom. I sat on my bed and plugged my phone up to charge, and just checked up on some of my social media as I waited for Kai to get back.

When he did, he was only in a pair of flannel pants, and I was trying my very hardest not to stare.

"You didn't answer the question." I hummed and set my phone down after closing an app. "Have you eaten? I don't mind getting you something." I then looked up, forcing myself to keep my eyes on his face.

"I'm fine, Charlie." He said and joined my side on my bed, and I looked over at him. "I'm not keeping you up, am I?" He asked.

"Nah. I normally don't get tired until around two." I shook my head.

Kai gave me a little smile and held up his pinky. I rolled my eyes and locked mine with his, and he let our hands rest on the bed between us rather than up in the air.

"What do you until then?" He asked, and I smirked.

"I know you're expecting me to say I masturbate, but I really just watch Netflix," I admitted, and Kai looked like he was holding back a fair amount of laughter.

"You know, huh?" He asked.

"You're not exactly subtle, Kai." I hummed, a little smile on my lips. "My turn."

"No, I ask the questions, Charlie." He protested.

"Well, that's just not fair," I said, giving him a look. "Why are you so willing to give me love?"

"Because you're deserving of love." He said, and I just gave him a look that let him know I knew he was lying. Kai then sighed and looked at our hands. "Because no one loves me. I want to be loved. Not obsessed over... no. I'd just like if there was one person to just love me. For me."

I blinked, then caught his cheek, and Kai looked back up at me. He didn't protest or try to stop me, so I leaned in, closing my eyes, and kissed him softly.

Kai kissed me back, moving his lips against mine, and his hand dropped mine as he brought them around me and traveled up my back, bringing me closer to him. The butterflies in my stomach spread all throughout me, and I let my fingers slip into his hair to keep him close to me.

One hand came back down from my back and held my hip. I knew what was coming, and grabbed his wrist just as his fingers snuck under my waistband.

I was grateful when Kai pulled his hand back, so I let his wrist go, and he held my cheek instead. He pulled back slightly, and I opened my eyes and bit my lip slightly, praying he wouldn't start screaming at me.

"Why?" He asked, then paused. "I'm not trying to convince you or anything, I'm just curious."

I smiled a little, thankful he wasn't like that. "I don't believe that after sex before truly getting to know a person, can you have a real love with them," I said slowly, hoping I worded that right. "I don't think two people can fall in love if they rush into it. I think they've only fallen in lust."

Kai hummed and gave a small nod. "Interesting thought. You know what I'm interested in?" He asked, and I hummed, almost a little scared of the smile on his lips.

"If you can find anything on Netflix you'd think I'd like." He said, and I gave a wide grin.

"I have just the thing." I turned away for a second to grab the remote and turned on the TV, and went to Netflix.

"You ever saw Black Mirror?" I asked.

"No," Kai answered and sat back, watching me.

"There's this one episode... it's practically perfect for you. I thought it up a few days ago, but I had no idea how to get you to watch it." I said as I scrolled through my list to find it. "It's called The Waldo Moment, and it's about how this cartoon bear runs for... I think it was Prime Minister or some British government shit. I thought it might give you some ideas."

I peeked back at Kai, and he was just watching me with some sort of emotion in his eyes that I couldn't place.

"You've got my attention." He nodded, and I smiled and selected the episode, making sure that the volume wouldn't disturb my uncles sleeping.

I set the remote back down and lied back with Kai, now not afraid to get close to him.


	7. Chapter 7

The next morning I woke up next to Kai, one of his arms securely around me, and I felt elevated and just... just safe.

I was lying on my back and turned onto my side to face him. Kai was already awake, and his hand stroked my back a little and I gave him a tiny smile.

"Morning," I said in nearly a whisper.

"Morning." Kai's eyes trailed across my face.

I opened my mouth to speak, but there was rapid knocking at my door. I sat up, my brows furrowed. "Yeah?" I called.

"There's police asking for you." I heard Louis say, and I blinked.

"I'll be down in a few seconds," I said and heard him walk away.

"Already?" I looked back at Kai.

"Jack is down there, and I'm here with you," Kai assured me, and I nodded and slipped out of bed to head down, Kai right behind me. I tied my hair up as we headed downstairs, just finishing up when I spotted Jack with some cops.

"Miss Dietrich, do you know a Miss Meadow Wilton?" A cop asked.

"No," I said, my brows furrowing to be convincing.

"A security report from yesterday says she came into the shop you work at and you had her removed?" Jack asked, and his acting was actually pretty impressive.

"There was a lady being pretty rude so I made her leave." I nodded.

"Miss Wilton was attacked last night around eleven. Where were you last night around that time?" Jack stared at me.

"I was here." I blinked, pretending to be just a little intimidated.

"Can anyone other than yourself confirm that?" He asked, then looked behind me, and I saw Kai with his hand raised, and he stepped up to my side, his hand on my back.

"I was with her all night." He said, and I felt my cheeks heat up a little.

I saw the cops glance at each other, and I just know they were debating silently on asking what we were doing at eleven at night.

"Were you awake at that time?" Jack looked at Kai.

"Yes." He said, and I was sort of wondering how he wasn't embarrassed. Was it normal for me to be embarrassed?

Jack hummed, his eyes flickering between the two of us. "That's all for now. We'll be back if we have any more questions." He said, and they all turned to leave. I turned to go back upstairs, ignoring the stares from my uncles. Kai followed me, and I put my hands over my face when I sat down.

"You alright?" He asked, coming over.

"Did you have to word it like that?" I groaned a little, and Kai just grabbed my wrists and brought them away from my face.

"You're cute when you're embarrassed." Kai just hummed. I looked away, and he used a finger to turn my face back to his before he leaned in to kiss me.

I kissed him back and looped my arms around his neck. He shifted us so I was laying down under him more than just sitting in front of him, and I loved how his hair fell around us like a sort of curtain.

"Do you work today?" He asked and I shook my head. "Perfect..." He sighed and pushed his lips to mine again.

"Wait, why?" I asked because I needed to know.

"Because you were right, Charlie." He sat up a little and pushed his hair back, and I propped myself up slightly as I watched him.

"That episode did give me some ideas, and a new role for you." He said.

"What do I do?" I asked.

"You're going to be a brainstormer." Kai nodded slowly. "You're good with ideas. You honestly impress me."

Kai then pointed at the TV. "The show had a point. All politicians are fake. So fake that a cartoon was more real and honest than them. And it was you who thought that would give me ideas. You're such a smart girl." I blushed a little at his praise.

He then took my hands. "I need you to dive into that brilliant mind of yours and think up all things to do with morals, ethics, philosophy, and satire that would help us. Think you can do that?" He looked into my eyes.

I gave him a smile. "Is that even a question?" I then grinned. "You literally just told me my job is a hobby I already do."

Kai smiled and pushed his lips to mine, excitement in his kiss. "I'm calling for a meeting tonight. Bring all your ideas. Don't leave a single thing out."

"You got it." I smiled. Kai then went to get dressed, saying he was going to leave so I could work. I got out a five subject notebook that was barely used and tore out the few written-on pages and the plastic dividers. Kai gave me another kiss before he left, and I got busy taking notes into this notebook, going back to study the episode, and also looked into my more philosophical and moral/ethical dilemma books to draw inspiration from.

I got myself ready to go out, and took the notebook with me, arriving early once again because of habit.

"You brought it?" Kai looked up at me from the couch.

"Of course," I said and handed it over. "I got quite a few pages filled out. I also think I killed my hand." I pursed my lips. Kai took my right hand in his and kissed each knuckle, making me smile.

I sat quietly beside him as he read through the pages, and when the others came down and saw he was reading, they became quiet, too.

"You have nice handwriting." Kai hummed, and I gave a tiny smile.

"Thanks," I said, almost worried when he closed it up and looked at the others, noticing Harrison was here, but Meadow wasn't.

"How's Meadow recovery? Going well?" Kai asked, staring at Harrison with that emotionless face of his.

"She's fine. Why...?" He asked, his eyes looking at me for a second or two.

I saw Kai looking at me from the corner of my eye, expecting me to answer. "It's kinda hard to talk shit to someone's face when you don't have a tongue," I said simply, ignoring the little shocked looks. "Ever heard the phrase, 'talk shit, get hit'?"

"But cutting out her tongue?" He blinked in disbelief at me.

"She's alive, isn't she?" I just gave a little shrug. I was past giving a shit at this point.

Kai directed the topic away and to the ideas I'd thought up today. He went over ones he liked and had me explain in further detail. I answered the other's questions and was a bit touched to see that most of them actually looked interested.

I took a pen out of my bag and took the notebook back and began making a list of the ones Kai liked, which I said I could start thinking more specifically about instead of just a generalization.

When the meeting ended, Kai was staring at me from where he sat on the couch.

"What?" I smiled as I put my pen away and closed the notebook.

"This is why I chose you for my second." He moved a bit closer to me. "No one else has ideas like you. Like me. I told you we match, didn't I?" He lowered his voice, getting close to my face.

"You did," I said softly with a little smile. "Fuck, I hate speaking in front of groups." I closed my eyes and heard him chuckle.

"I think you did a great job, Charlie. Maybe I should have you write speeches for me." Kai said, and my smile grew a bit.

"I can do that, too." I gave a little nod before opening my eyes again, seeing his face is only inches from mine.

His eyebrows then twitched a little. "You're not trying to be a suck-up, are you?"

"No," I said, my brows furrowing at him.

"Then why are you acting like this?" He asked, and I sighed a little.

"Because when you love someone, you'd do anything to make them happy. Their happiness makes you happy." I said, and his face softened ever so slightly. He lied me back on the couch, and I let the notebook fall by my bag on the floor.

"Don't try to convince me you love me." He shook his head slightly.

"You promised you'd give me your love. I'm promising you I'll give you mine." I just said, and Kai honestly looked like a mix between touched and lost.

"I'm not used to people treating me good." Kai shook his head, hanging it over me.

"I'm not used to having someone pay so much attention to me. To care so much about me." I reached up and traced his cheek with my fingertips.

Kai caught my wrist and kissed it, then went up my arm until he hit my shirt sleeve, and finally brought his lips down on mine, making us both happy.


	8. Chapter 8

Around two days later, it was a bit later at night, and I pulled up to Gary's grocery store just to pick up on binge-watching food in my flannels and an old T-shirt.

The first thing I noticed was that the store was open but empty. There weren't even cashiers at the registers. I checked the ceiling for cameras, and there were cameras. So I couldn't just take what I came for and leave.

The soda aisle was closer, so I went over and grabbed a two liter of coke, and the nagging thought in my head grew stronger, and so I peeked over my shoulder and saw a clown with a ruffled collar just staring at me.

I turned back around with a sigh and went to go to the chip aisle.

I'm going to fucking kill Kai.

I walked past the meat section, and two clowns were fucking over the refrigerated poultry. I didn't even spare them a glance, and kept walking, growing even more annoyed.

I found the sour cream and onion and picked up a bag just as a number of clowns stood in a semi-circle around me. I sighed quickly and just stared straight forward.

"Y'all must think I'm so dumb." I hummed.

No one responded, and I turned, pursing my lips in disappointment. A few turned to the clown with three faces in a black coat. He looked the cockiest, which is how I knew that was Kai.

I stared at him for a moment. "You disappoint me." I simply said, then turned to leave, not even going to bother paying anymore.

I went to my car and heard footsteps behind me, and saw it was Kai with his mask off. I slipped my keys between my fingers after putting the chips and soda in the passenger seat and closed the driver's side door. I turned and held up my fist with my keys between my fingers.

"Get away from me, Kai," I said with a dead blank stare.

"Charlie, I fucked up. I'm sorry. I didn't realize it until it was happening." He held his hands up in surrender. "I'm so sorry."

"Sure," I rolled my eyes.

"I'm being honest. It slipped my mind, I swear." He tried.

"Yeah, that doesn't exactly make it better." I clenched my jaw.

Kai dropped his hands. "I'm sorry. Shit, I'm sorry doesn't even cover it. It just... it's how we usually scare people... I should've been paying more attention." He then sighed, looking sincere, which I hated.

"Let me make it up to you," Kai said.

"You can't," I said, ignoring the burning tears in my eyes. I then let my fist drop to my side. "I told you that shit in confidence, Kai, and you go and pull this."

"I know, I'm sorry." He slowly came over to me, being cautious that I wouldn't punch him with my keys. "I'll say it a million times if you need me to."

I just shook my head slowly. Kai reached for my cheek, but I turned my face away.

"Give me your keys." He said softly, and I saw him holding his hand out to me.

"Why?" I asked.

"Because I'm going to drive you home, and I'm going to make sure that you know you're completely safe and that no one is watching you." Kai's eyes looked sincere, and I didn't want to trust him. "Please. And besides, you really wanna watch Netflix alone after this?"

Kai had a little smile on his lips, and I narrowed my eyes before I sighed and dropped my keys in his hand. I then turned away to get in the passenger's seat, and he got in the driver's seat. He pulled out his phone and typed something, then put it back in his pocket.

"Just telling Winter to tell everyone to go home." He hummed and started up the engine.

"They probably think I'm a pussy," I mumbled as he pulled out of the lot.

"I'll explain my mistake later." He said, and I looked at him in alarm. "I'm not telling them about you, I'd never. I just fucked up and made you mad, which I did."

I nodded slowly and kept quiet as he drove to my house, and I opened the gate for us and closed it behind us. He grabbed the chips and soda before I could, and carried them up to my room. He saw the other snacks on my bed, along with the notebook, and a couple books with sticky notes sticking out of some pages.

"Were you planning on getting any sleep tonight?" He asked as he locked my door.

"Not really." I kicked my shoes off and sat cross-legged on the bed, and Kai made sure my blinds were closed and curtains completely drawn. He then stripped a bit, and I got up and went to my drawer and pulled out a pair of large flannel pants. Kai didn't bother going to the bathroom to change. He just took off his pants and pulled on the flannels, then joined my side, lying propped up on an elbow beside me.

"Is this always how you do this?" He asked, and I glanced over.

"More or less, yeah." I nodded. "Junk food, sugar, and I'm good to go."

"Well, now I know what you need if I need you working in the basement." He hummed, and I gave a small smile as I waited for Netflix to load. "Talk me through your plan."

"I sort of forgot the first episode existed. It's about politics, but not really, as the point of the episode is people being too drawn to what's happening on a screen rather than in reality. I think you should see it, as I'm going to take notes on it first. I think the second episode, Fifteen Million Merits, I only need to see the end of. A character makes a speech basically about the blurry line between reality and virtual reality." I hummed, pointing them out as I talked.

"There's not really anything useful in season two, except The Waldo Moment. But season three has a lot. Ooh, Nosedive is my favorite episode in the whole show, but nothing to really help us out... maybe. I think Shut Up And Dance has some good ideas on how to fuck with people. But Men Against Fire and Hated In The Nation... I feel like there might be some stuff in there we could use." I nodded slowly as I jotted my list down at the top of a sheet. I then checked season four, running through the list of episodes in my mind, and decided there was nothing in that season that would help.

"Can you make me a list of the meaning behind every episode?" Kai asked and I nodded and flipped to a new page in the notebook, and made bullet points with episode names underlined, then a dash and an explanation of the overall meaning.

"Oh, shit, I forgot White Bear gives an excellent point on the justice system. That could be useful." I hummed somewhat to myself.

When I was done, I tore out the paper and handed it over, then flipped back to the page I was originally on for the first episode's notes, The National Anthem.

"You're so brilliant." Kai sighed and I smiled a little. "Charlie, look at me."

I looked over, and Kai sat up and got mere inches away from my face. "I never, ever, want to hurt you. I don't want to give you any reason not to trust me." He took one of my hands in his, lacing our fingers together.

I didn't say anything, and he came forward and put his forehead on mine. "Please know I'm being honest when I say that."

"I know," I whispered and Kai closed his eyes. "But that hurt, Kai. It almost felt like you were trying to use it against me or something."

"No, no. Charlie, no. I swear that was not what I was trying to do." He held my waist and moved me closer to him where we sat. "I just meant for it to be a sort of test. You haven't been with us on any of our jobs yet, I needed to see if you got scared easy. I completely forgot that some of them just stand and watch who we're trying to scare. I was honestly more focused on how you'd react to the two fucking in the meat section." Kai said, and I let slip a small giggle.

"I believe you," I hummed, and meet his dark eyes again. "But also, did you really think it was a good idea to scare me with clowns? You know I love clowns." I said, and a little smile came to his face.

"Yeah, it was kind of a shit plan now that I think about it," Kai admitted, just making me smile a little wider. "Are you still mad at me?"

"No," I smiled, and he tilted his head and kissed me slowly, and I let one of my hands slip into his hair, as I didn't realize how badly I wanted to kiss him.

"Good," Kai sighed when he pulled back slightly. "I've learned not to kiss people when they're mad. It seems to just make them madder."

I laughed a little, and Kai looked happy to know that I was alright now. I pecked his lips, then turned and opened the new bag of chips.

"You're distracting me," I said with a little smile, so he knew I wasn't mad or too serious.

"Sorry, go on." Kai hummed and lied back again, his fingers playing along my back, keeping the smile on my face.

"Cool. Let's watch a man fuck a pig." I hummed and selected episode one.

"What?" Kai asked.

"Just watch," I smirked, readying my pen for notes.


	9. Chapter 9

The next day wasn't a work day for me, so Kai begged me to spend it with him. I agreed and gathered my notebook and laptop and charger and drove us to his place. Kai had grabbed some of my food and was bringing it down to the basement.

"How do you two not have diabetes or something?" Winter asked when she came down.

"High metabolism." I hummed as I read over my notes, flipping between pages to check previous notes.

"Have you ever eaten a salad in your life?" She asked.

"Only if there's ranch involved," I said and gave her a sarcastic smile. "I know I'm a piece of shit. You don't have to tell me that."

Kai hid his smirk as Winter left. "You're not a piece of shit."

"I sorta am." I just shrugged.

"No, I'm not having you say that about yourself." He shook his head, and I glanced over before smiling a little. He then took the notebook from my hand and set it on the table, and my pen followed it. Kai then lifted me slightly and placed me on his lap, facing him, my legs on either side of him.

"I'm not having you saying anything bad, or thinking anything bad about yourself, Charlie." He trailed my waist a bit with his hands, keeping perfect eye contact as usual.

"No one's perfect," I shook my head.

"You're perfect." Kai disagreed.

"I'm hardly perfect, Kai." I insisted.

"You're perfect to me." He then said, and I fell quiet, just staring at him, trying to figure out how the hell he could ever think that. Kai reached up and traced a bit of my hair, looking thoughtful.

I then noticed how comfortable I was, but also how much my eyes burned. I leaned down and put my face in the crook of his neck, holding his sides gently.

"You okay?" He asked softly, tracing my back.

"Yeah, my eyes just burn a bit. I've been staring at screens too long." I hummed.

"Take a break. You've definitely earned it." He smoothed down my hair, making me relax even more against him.

"You don't mind?" I just wanted to make sure.

"No, love." He pressed a kiss to my shoulder, which I guess was the only part of me his lips could reach. I let my eyes fall closed, giving them some relief, and for distracted a little by how warm Kai was. I also felt sort of at home on his lap, which confused the shit out of me. I decided I didn't care though, I was too comfy, and dozed off without even realizing it.

When I woke up, it took me a minute to figure out where I was and what was happening, until I felt the strong arms around me, and it all came back.

I took a slightly deeper breath, trying to wake myself up, and Kai's hand traveled up my back.

"You awake, Charlie?" He asked softly, and I just hummed softly, so he knew I was a little bit awake. Kai sat me up, and I just blinked heavily at him.

"Aren't you cute?" He teased, and I rolled my eyes at him. I gathered myself pretty quickly and forced myself awake.

"Shit. Sorry for falling asleep on you." I said.

"No, no need to say sorry. You can take a nap on me whenever you want." Kai said, making me laugh a little.

"Careful, I might actually do that," I warned, and he just gave me a little smile.

"I'm counting on you to. Now, come on, you need to eat. I had Winter get us some takeout. She threw a little fit because I wouldn't send her somewhere with healthier food." Kai said, and I looked at the table behind me as I slid off his lap and onto the couch, and he handed me a plastic container of pasta, got himself one, and we had a whole bag of breadsticks.

"Nice," I grinned, opening my fettuccini Alfredo with chicken and broccoli. "I didn't miss anything too important, did I?" I asked as I twirled some around a fork.

"Just me trying to make sense of your notes." Kai hummed, making me smile.

"I can explain them to you if you want me to," I said, and he grabbed the notebook and set it on the table, then flipped a few pages. He stopped, then pointed to a subheading.

"There. You said there's a connection between The Waldo Moment and Fifteen Million Merits." He said, and I swallowed the bite I took and nodded.

"Well, you know the point behind The Waldo Moment is that Waldo is a cartoon blue bear, obviously fake, but he was still more real than the other candidates," I said and Kai nodded. "Fifteen Million Merits goes into where to draw the line between real and fake. In the episode, they have real people on these bikes, cycling all day every day to make imaginary money, which they are forced to pay for everything with. Not just food and whatever. They pay for how much toothpaste they use, how much soap, they pay to get rid of ads that pop up randomly just to piss them off. But most of what they pay for is for their virtual selves, things like clothes and accessories for them." I explained.

"The point being is that we as humans can't stomach anything real anymore. We don't pay attention to anything physically real. And when we do find something real, we twist and contort it into something we can handle, but at that point, it's just ruined and lost its original purpose." I said, Kai just staring at me.

I then gave a small smile. "What?"

"I just..." Kai started, then smiled. "I like the way you explain things."

"I like how you make your little speeches." I chuckled. "How you're always telling us that we're more than we think we are."

"You are more than you think. You're so much more." He touched my cheek with soft eyes that made me smile wider. "I see it. I know it."

I kept close and kissed his cheek. I was about to turn back to my pasta, but Kai caught my cheek and turned my face back to his. I smiled a bit wider but kissed him back when he kissed me and set down the plastic container when he pulled my bottom lip between his teeth. I tilted my head slightly and let my lips part to let him kiss me deeper.

Kai suddenly had his hands free and pulled me closer. I smiled a little between kisses and Kai gave a breathy chuckle.

"What?" He asked softly.

"Just... how easily we seem to get distracted," I said and Kai just hummed as he pushed my hair back from my face.

"I do sometimes get distracted during meetings because I'm just so in awe over you." He hummed.

"Shut up. No, you're not." I laughed a little.

"No, I swear, Charlie." He held my arms, rubbing them a little. "I love listening to you talk. I love hearing your thoughts."

"Stop being perfect." I murmured as I grinned.

"I love you." Kai stared at me, a smile teasing on his lips.

"Love you," I sighed quickly to kiss him faster.


	10. Chapter 10

I was sorting books on the shelves at work, stocking copies and putting back books that were in the wrong place. I was somewhat daydreaming, somewhat deep in thought as I did so.

So far everything has been running smoothly. Aside from that one little blip in the grocery store, everything has been perfect. It honestly felt like some sort of time-lapse scene with a touching love song playing in the background of some movie, as fucking sappy as that sounded.

It made me extremely suspicious of what the future held. That's how the world worked, after all. Right when things go well, everything suddenly turns to shit.

So I was just keeping an eye out.

"Hey, Charlie." A voice said, and I turned and saw Winter coming down the aisle towards me.

"Hey, Winter. What's up?" I asked.

"Look, I like you. You don't suck up to my brother like everyone else. You say what's on your mind to him. I admire that." She said, and I grew confused.

"Thank you...?"

"I'm just here to warn you so you don't flip out when Kai brings it up randomly, as he does with most things." She said and I nodded, listening to her. "He's been talking a bit about a kid lately. About having a kid."

I froze a little, not knowing what to think. I think Winter noticed that something was wrong, and she held my arm.

"Hey, are you alright? Charlie, you okay?" She asked and I just blinked and nodded.

"No, you're not. When do you get off? You look like you need to talk about this." She said.

"No. I..." I closed my eyes and took a breath. "I'm good. Just a bit shocked." I nodded, and she looked at me and slowly nodded before walking off.

I turned back to the shelves and just stared for a minute. There it was. Everything starting to go to shit.

Should I let Kai know that I know, or should I wait for him to talk to me about it? He knows I'm not into sex too early into a relationship... maybe he didn't even mean having a kid with me? Fuck, did he even consider this a relationship? It's not like we've ever talked about it. The second day of me knowing him, he was already promising to love me. Should I consider this a relationship?

I got off work and went home, grabbing a bottle of wine and a glass from the kitchen to try and settle my nerves as I thought even more about this.

Fuck, have I let him manipulate me, though I told myself I wouldn't? I know the signs, I know the tricks. Shit, I've used the tricks before on other people. Did I really let myself become blinded just by the promise of being loved by another person?

Does he think less of me for this? Does he think of me as this needy little girl, and I'm easy to play? Did I let the flattery he hands out left and right get to me? Am I fucking stupid?

I must be, I thought as I took a long drink.

I ended up deciding to keep it in the back of my mind until Kai decided to bring it up if he ever brought it up. I couldn't help the nagging thought that since he knew I wouldn't have sex with him for at least another few months, would he fuck another woman and get her pregnant? Since I considered this a relationship, I'd see that as cheating, obviously. But if he didn't see us in a relationship, he'd probably think I was stupid or naïve.

Kai ended up coming around a few days later, and I was sitting cross-legged on my bed when he walked in. Before he could even get a word in, I held my pinky up in the air, staring at a spot on the comforter. Kai set his bag down beside my bed and kicked his shoes off before sitting in front of me and joined our pinkies together.

I felt like I was bursting at the seams, but I kept my outer appearance under control. "What do you see me as?"

"My Charlie." He immediately answered. "Mine. My girl. My lover. Where is this coming from?"

I peeked up and saw his brows creased in confusion. "Do you think I'm stupid?"

"No. Of course not. Charlie, I told you not to think badly about yourself." Kai said and moved a little closer to me and held my face with his other hand. "Tell me, what is this about?"

"You wouldn't cheat on me, would you?" I ignored his question once again.

"What? No, I'd never." He sounded really confused. "Do you think I've cheated on you?"

I shook my head, still looking down, and Kai moved even closer. "Charlie, please tell me what you're thinking."

I took a little breath. "Winter told me you were thinking about kids. I just... I got to thinking about that you know that I don't like to have sex too early into a relationship. Then I thought about if I considered this a relationship, but you didn't. Then I thought that since you knew this, would you knock up another girl? And I would see that as cheating, but would you? Would you think I was stupid for considering us in a relationship?"

I decided to end it there, though I think Kai knew I had many more thoughts than just those. His head was hung, and I heard him swear under his breath. He then raised his head again, and I looked away in shame.

"Charlie, look at me," Kai said, turning my face to his, where his eyes bore into mine. "I love you. I consider you mine, and I'm yours. Only yours. I'd never, ever, want to hurt you in any way, especially not like that. And with all your brilliant ideas, I couldn't possibly think you were stupid, not even for a second. And it's fine that you want to build up our relationship before intimacy. I'm one hundred percent okay with that."

"What about the kids?" I sniffed a little.

"I've been thinking about kids a bit, yes, but I don't plan on having any anytime soon, okay? That can wait." He assured me, but my eyes only filled with hot tears against my will. "Charlie? What's wrong?" Kai sounded worried, brushing his thumb under my eye.

"I can't be the one to give you kids." I sniffed, looking away.

"Okay. Why not?" He asked. I was thankful he was at least willing to listen.

"You remember I told you the worst pain I've ever felt was cramps?" I said and he nodded slowly, seeming to understand immediately. "I've been on birth control for years to calm them down, and I really haven't even had cramps for years now. But if I were to go off and get pregnant, it'd just come back, and probably be worse. And the thought of actually giving birth..." I closed my eyes, not wanting to imagine that pain.

"Pregnancy scares the shit out of me. And now I know you want kids at some point... and I just can't give them to you..." My voice cracked a little. "I'm sorry, I didn't want to disappoint you..."

Kai dropped my hand and face and pulled me into a tight hug. "No. No, Charlie, you don't have to be sorry. I'm not disappointed. I understand. It's okay." He murmured to me while stroking my hair down my back, trying to comfort me. I still cried a bit into his shoulder, and Kai kept comforting me, whispering in my ear and telling me it was alright, I was okay.

We shifted at some point to where he sat against my pillows with me curled up to his chest. I had stopped crying, now sniffling as he held me securely.

"You're sure you're not mad?" I asked in a soft voice.

"I'm not mad, I promise you." He smoothed down my hair again. I peeked up at him just gazing down at me, then moved up so my face was beside his instead of on his chest.

"I love you." I murmured and felt blessed when I saw him smile.

"I love you," Kai whispered and kissed me very softly, almost like he was scared of breaking me like I was fragile or something. When he pulled back, I kept my eyes closed, and let my arm come around him as I got even comfier.

"Tired?" He asked.

"Just a little." I then smiled a bit. "You sure you don't mind if I take a nap on you?" I peeked and saw him smiling again.

"Not in the slightest." He moved a little to reach down and bring my covers up and around us. "I'll probably doze off myself." He turned and brought his arm around me.

I curled up and closed my eyes again, growing comfy again, and was happy to be curled up with Kai, now knowing everything was good.


	11. Chapter 11

I thought everything was good. I thought everything was fucking good. I spoke way too soon.

It was about two weeks later when I was sitting on the couch with Ivy, explaining some of my notes when we overheard Kai say to Harrison and Jack that LGBT was just a pointless label used to divide people.

I immediately shut up and pressed my fingers to my eyelids, mouthing 'oh my fucking god.' Kai, you ignorant fuck. I love you, but shut up.

I then noticed the room had grown quiet. "Charlie?" Kai just asked, and I rose my head from where I had let it drop.

"They're not labels, they're forms of identification," I said, just staring at the wall, keeping myself toned down and calm.

"Identification?" He hummed, and I turned around to look at him.

"Yes, identification. Do you consider race and gender a label or an identity?" I asked with a blank face. Kai didn't answer, and I raised my brows at him before turning back around.

"You're not straight." Kai then said, and I gave a little sigh.

" _That's_ what you got from that?" I then shook my head slightly. "And as a matter of fact, no, I'm not straight," I said as I tried to find my place in my notes again.

I heard his footsteps and swore in my mind as he leaned over the headrest beside me. "Alright then, what do you ' _identify_ ' as?"

"What's the point in saying if you're just going to shit on it anyway?" I sighed. I could almost feel his anger just radiating off of him beside me.

"Oh. You're one of those made up sexualities." He hummed, and I pressed my fingers between my eyes.

"Kai," I just sighed. "Stop talking."

He was dead silent for a moment before I looked up and saw him just staring, and I clenched my jaw as I stared back, challenging him to try me.

"Everyone get out." He just said, eyes never leaving mine, and I heard everyone rush to get out of the tension-filled basement. Once the door closed, he spoke again, his voice calm, but a little threatening.

"You don't speak to me like that."

"And you don't speak to me like that." I retorted.

"You forget I'm still your leader." He said, and I pursed my lips.

"Right. Sorry. Here I was thinking that as we're in a relationship together, we don't talk down to one another." My stare started to shift into a glare. "I'm not less than you, Kai."

"I never said you were." He said.

"Well, you're sure on your way to treating me like I am." I tilted my head slightly. "You honestly have no idea how fucking ignorant you sounded? You do know that at least four members here aren't straight, and you say that shit? In two of their faces, even."

Kai's eyes traveled around my face, and he didn't say anything. I watched as he closed his eyes for a second, let his head drop, and he gave a small sigh before he came around the couch and sat next to me.

"I'm sorry. I don't see you as less than me. That's... not right, especially not in a relationship. And I'm sorry for being ignorant. I'll apologize to the others later." Kai said, and looked down at my hand, and slipped his into mine.

"Sorry for calling whatever you are made up." He ran his thumb over my skin, and I watched it in silence. "I'll listen if you tell me. I'll still love you." He said a little softer.

I was quiet for a moment, still watching his thumb trace my skin. All the possibilities of how this could play out ran through my mind, and I couldn't stop myself from leaning over and putting my head on his shoulder.

"Does it really matter?" I said softly.

"If it matters to you, it matters to me," Kai said just as softly and turned slightly to kiss my head.

I sighed a little. "It's called demisexual." I started to explain. "It basically boils down to I don't feel a sexual attraction unless I have an emotional connection with someone. Sex or gender doesn't really matter as long as we connect emotionally."

"Is that also why you don't fuck so early on?" Kai asked.

"Yeah." I nodded, now growing a little scared of the criticism he might throw at me.

But Kai just turned and kissed my head again. "I still love you. That's not changing anytime soon, Charlie." He murmured against my hair.

I turned my head and placed a little kiss on his jaw. "Thank you. I love you, too." I gave a little smile before taking my hand away from his, but only to hug him. Kai brought me onto his lap and held me there. He kept murmuring that he loved me and placed tiny little kisses wherever his lips could reach until I giggled a little.

"What are you doing?" I asked, pulling back to look at him.

"Making sure you believe me." Kai hummed, and I smiled, running my fingers through his hair.

"I believe you."

"You're not mad?" He asked, and I smiled a little wider and rolled my eyes.

"No, I'm not mad. Yes, you can kiss me." I said, and Kai gave a little smile before he raised his head up and I lowered down a little to meet his lips.

I was starting to like how Kai seemed to want to kiss me deeper sooner and sooner with every kiss we shared. The first few times we made out, it took a good long while until we both let our lips part to make the kiss deeper. Now it took less than a minute for Kai to lick over or bite my bottom lip to get me to open up. Not that I really minded. I was humored by the thought of whenever the day would come where it would take him mere seconds until he grew impatient.

Sure, soft and slow kisses were my jam, but I'd come to love how Kai seemed eager and almost sort of desperate to kiss me. I fucking loved how he was always trying to pull me closer, even if there was no space between us. He made shivers break out across my skin when he worked my lips open, and they only got stronger when I heard soft groans come from the back of his throat. I also loved how I felt him shiver sometimes when he'd pull back to kiss my neck, and I'd let out some sighs as I raked my fingers through his hair.

I always looked out for signs that I was aroused, curious to know when I might be ready. I did think sometimes (if I was alone, most likely at night) about letting him touch me, but I wasn't entirely sure if I was ready to actually try it out yet. So far, my imagination would do.

Kai then brought his lips back to mine, and I gave a gasp before kissing him back just as hard, just as needy. I had his face tilted up to mine, and then he suddenly pulled away.

"Fuck," He breathed, closing his eyes as he leaned back against the couch.

"What?" I asked, growing nervous that I did something wrong.

"Nothing. I just..." He sighed. "I was starting to get hard. Didn't want to make you uncomfortable."

"Oh." I more or less squeaked, feeling my cheeks heat up significantly. I looked away as Kai faced at me, a smile coming into his face.

"What? What is it?" He asked.

"I'm just not really someone who people get hard over..." I said, not believing I just said that.

"I'd have to disagree." Kai hummed, leaning back again. I glanced at him, a little confusion showing on my face. "I get hard over you nearly every day."

"Oh, geez..." I mumbled, looking away as I blushed harder, leaving Kai laughing.


	12. Chapter 12

Meadow had recovered and had my mask made. It was a white grinning clown with plastic green sort of Elvis styled hair. The grin was red and had yellowed teeth, and the eyes were completely black. I absolutely loved it.

Kai was becoming worried that no one was becoming scared enough and looked at my notebook on the table before he looked at me, and asked if I could think up something we could do that would really make people afraid.

I explained that I had a basic idea, I was still trying to flush out the details.

So, while the meeting went on, I made a basic plan and was now working on details. Kai was an expert with computers, but how well could he actually hack into someone's social media account? Would that be too easy for him?

I did a quick search on my phone and wrote down stats, giving some options to go with. I was still stuck on thinking up an ultimatum to put on a list of demands. Something humiliating that would make people have a sick curiosity...

I closed my eyes and leaned back against the headrest, trying to think. If we made someone fuck an animal, fans of Black Mirror would call us out. Who could we humiliate that is important enough where it would matter.

Then it hit me.

Mike Pence, our vice president, is totally against LGBT across the board. He has been for years now. He's for conversion therapy and has been voting against rights for LGBT for what seems like forever. Not only that, but he's also a flat-out racist and against women's equal rights. Overall, awful guy.

That's when I raised my head again at the ultimatum and wrote it down. I then bit my lip, now nervous about sharing, what the others might think.

"Let me see," Kai said and I just handed it over for him to read. The room was quiet, and I bit my lip as I watched for his reactions. He slowly started to smile, and I wasn't sure if he was laughing at me, or if he was impressed.

After a minute, he got to the bottom, and then he laughed a little. "You... have balls, Charlie."

"You like it?" I continued to bite my lip.

"I fucking love it," Kai said, then pointed to where I had drawn a block around two bullet points. "What's that, though?"

"Accounts." I scooted a little closer as I pointed it out to him. "PewDiePie is the biggest YouTuber, he has been for years and years, and really, no one is going to surpass his following of sixty-six point six million anytime soon. The second biggest YouTuber has only thirty-five million. But Trump, Trump's Twitter has fifty-four point eight million followers." I shifted my finger.

"The thing is, PewDiePie's videos are watched internationally, sure, but only by a certain group of people. Trump, on the other hand, his tweets are seen by literally everyone across the planet. But another drawback is that Twitter allows only one hundred and forty second videos, while with YouTube, your videos can be as long as you want." I said and Kai nodded in understanding.

"Why not both, then? Post the videos to YouTube, and put the link on his Twitter." He said, making me smile.

"I was going to bring that up next."

"Thing is, since we're targeting such important people, wherever we upload from can be traced." He glanced at me.

"I thought of that too," I said and pointed to a circle near the top, that had Jack's name written in it.

"Hey, Jack? You got a computer in your office?" I looked over and he nodded. "Perfect. How do you feel about going on vacation?"

"Why?" He asked.

"Because you're going to be our victim," I said and saw his eyes widen and flash to Kai before he looked back at me.

"Why me?" He asked.

"Because you're a cop," Kai answered. "We're going to kidnap you, and we're going to film it and upload it to where everybody can see it. See, when something happens to a cop, it gets two different reactions. There's either, 'well he's a cop, he had it coming' or 'we have to do anything to save him because he's a cop.' Publicizing your kidnapping, but not making it clear why, will attract both types of people."

Kai then turned to look at me. "What else do we need?"

"Camera, computer to upload from, his IP address, a big ass Sharpie, and a fuck ton of poster board. Oh, and he'll need somewhere to stay for the next few days." I gestured back to Jack.

"He can stay here." Kai nodded. "Okay. Jack, you're going to head to your office and get the IP address from your computer there. Someone else is going to wait at Jack's house so he can leave his car there, then bring him back here. R.J., get your camera. Gary, you're going to get the poster board and shit, and we're all going to get our masks and camera ready. Except you, Jack." Kai said, and they all nodded and went off.

I then leaned closer to Kai once they were gone. "You're going to have to convince Jack to get beat up. I didn't have the heart to mention it."

"You didn't have the heart to tell a man we'd have to beat him, but you have the heart to force another man into getting butt fucked?" Kai asked with a little smile, and I rolled my eyes.

"I also think we should film all of this in advance. Probably tomorrow. I can stay here and work on the messages tonight." I hummed.

"I am so impressed with you, Charlie." He sighed and traced my hair as he gazed at me. I looked over with a little smile, only for Kai to lean forward and kiss me heatedly. I kissed him back and allowed myself to grab his shirt and pull him even closer to me.

Kai leaned me back to lie down on the couch, and he came over me, joining our lips again. It was my turn to bite his lip, which I had so much fun doing, especially when he groaned, then panted a little against my lips before he kissed me again.

I wanted to feel him. Shit, I just wanted his shirt off. I wanted to feel all that smooth, warm skin. I wanted to feel his muscles move under his skin as he moved to kiss me and hold himself over me. What I didn't want was to give him the wrong impression. I didn't want to have actual sex with him, but I think I might be cool with a little touching.

Like most of my thoughts, I decided fuck it, and I tugged on his shirt to indicate I wanted it off of him and on the floor. Kai lifted himself up for a second and shrugged it off, and I immediately let my hand run up his chest and feel his shoulder as he kissed me again.

"What do you want?" Kai breathed against me.

"I don't wanna go all the way." I decided to make that perfectly clear. "But if... if you wanted to touch me, I'd be fine with it." I let my fingers trace a pattern on the muscle in his shoulder as I spoke.

Kai tilted his head slightly as he looked at me. "Not now. I'm saving it for a better time." He said and I nodded.

Kai gave me a little smile and pressed a soft kiss to my forehead before trailing his lips back down to mine, driving me crazy.


	13. Chapter 13

The next day, I had all the messages written out on the poster board for Jack to hold up as we filmed. We explained we'd be filming all of them in one go and uploading throughout the day or days, however long it took.

Kai had already gotten into Trump's Twitter and PewDiePie's channel and changed their passwords for the time being. We'd change them back once we were done.

Kai had also beaten Jack up a bit to make it look real, and Jack said he understood, he was fine with it.

We had our costumes on, aside from R.J., who was filming. Kai was holding a knife to Jack's throat, and we got through the first video that was just explaining the rules pretty quickly.

We got through the rest of the videos, Kai bloodying up Jack just a bit more through takes to make it look like time has passed. When we had all we needed, all the videos were put on Kai's laptop, and everyone continued on with their day. Winter took Jack to clean him up, and Kai hooked an arm around me and pulled me to his side as he uploaded the first video to YouTube, then Tweeted the link with the caption, "Do you care about cops?"

He then set his laptop aside and kissed my head. "I love you so much, Charlie." He sighed against my skin before kissing it again.

"I mean it. I was just talking on a local level, but you. You skipped over local, state, and national, and just went straight to terrorism on an international level." Kai then tilted my face up to look at him. "You have no idea how impressed I am."

I smiled softly, feeling proud of myself, and kissed him. Kai smiled a bit as he kissed me back, keeping it calm.

After only an hour, most of the country was in a state of panic and confusion. Some other parts of the world were getting in on it too, and #FreeJackNow was trending. As expected, we soon got a reply from the white house. It was just them asking what we wanted, what they had to do to make us free him.

So Kai posted the video that basically said we needed a response that Mike Pence was going to cooperate and be ready to do whatever it took.

We kept the news on to see what everyone was scrambling to figure out before we reached our goal, whatever that was.

It took less time to get a response from Mike Pence saying he was willing to cooperate if it meant an innocent man would go free.

Kai grinned to himself and posted our demands video, then made a poll on Trump's Twitter, asking what everyone thought Pence should do. Get fucked or fuck over an innocent man.

We had given specific rules, too. It had to be televised, for one, and it had to be a male person of color. Nothing was to be censored. Absolutely nothing. We also gave him a time frame to think and make a choice.

Some hours later, results of the poll said most people, a whopping eighty-nine percent, said Pence should just get fucked.

It took almost the whole time frame we gave him, but he went on live TV and agreed "to give in to these terrorists' demands to save someone else."

"Holy shit." Kai breathed from beside me. "Holy shit, he's actually doing it. Fuck." He gave a little laugh, and I'll admit, I was a bit excited.

Around ten minutes later, Kai had a grip on my hand and our eyes were glued to the screen as Mike Pence, our vice president, was being fucked doggy style on live television. Literally for the world to see.

"Jack! You're free!" Kai called with a laugh, and Jack just cheered from upstairs. Kai changed the passwords back and logged out of their accounts, then set everything back to normal. Then he turned to look at me.

"Come on. Let's go to yours." He took my hand and pulled me up the stairs.

"Why?" I asked.

"To celebrate our win." He threw me a little smirk. I drove us to my house and kicked my shoes off once we were in my room.

"What do you want to do?" I asked, and Kai slipped his shirt off as I just stared.

"We've worked hard today. How about a shower?" He hummed, and I smiled faintly and gave a nod. Kai kicked his shoes, socks, and jeans off, then walked to my bathroom. I cleaned my face of makeup and stripped down to my panties before deciding fuck it and got rid of them too and walked across the hall to the bathroom, where Kai was already in the steaming shower.

"I almost thought you weren't going to join me." He hummed when I stepped in with him.

"Mascara and water don't mix." I hummed, trying to keep my eyes innocent. Kai, on the other hand, didn't bother at all. He blatantly stared down at my body, making me just a little self-conscious.

"Aren't you a pretty little thing," Kai said, tracing my hipbone with his fingers. His hand trailed up to my chest, where he ran his thumbs across my nipples. They started to harden, and then Kai looked up at my face.

"You're not even under the water, Charlie. Come on, it'll warm you up." He said and moved me, getting my hair wet along with the rest of my body.

"Much better." He bit his lip slightly, then ducked his head so we were face to face.

"Do you want me to kiss you?" He asked, and I nodded, so he pressed a little kiss to my lips. "You want me to touch you?" I nodded once again, and he pinched one of my nipples, making my jaw drop open.

"You want me to bury my fingers in that pussy of yours?" His eyes bore into mine, and I felt the shivers break across my skin, and I nodded again.

Kai then turned me around and brought an arm around my waist. His other hand trailed across my hips before it dipped between my thighs and started to stroke me gently.

"I would've just pressed you to the wall, but those are cold, and I want you nice and warm," Kai said into my ear. I closed my eyes and let myself feel his chest against my back, his form completely pressed to mine.

His fingers slipped between my folds as he kept just feeling me. "Bit wet down here, and I know it's not from the water." He hummed and placed a kiss on my shoulder. His fingers just brushed over my clit, and I shivered against him with a little gasp.

Just to tease me, he rubbed my clit just for a few seconds to get me squirming against him.

"Kai, please." I sighed.

"I could probably get you to come just with your clit. You ever done that? Not put your fingers in you at all? You just rubbed your clit?" He hummed, and I nodded because, yeah, I have actually.

"I'd try now, but I just need to know how tight and wet you are," Kai said and kissed my ear as he pushed two fingers into me.

I let out a moan that might've been a bit louder than I intended, and I put my hands over my mouth. Kai didn't seem to care as he just slid his fingers in and out of me. He curled them when they were in me and stroked my front wall, and my hips bucked against his hand a little. Kai hissed through his teeth, and I didn't realize why until I felt him hardening against my ass. I must've rubbed against him when I moved.

I was about to apologize, but he then just pressed his fingers even harder in me, and my back arched a bit as I moaned, my ass pressing further into him. Kai let his head drop and began feverishly kissing my neck and shoulder, now using his teeth to nip at my skin and suck on the spots he bit.

My knees felt so weak as my legs shook, and I was grateful he had his other arm around me, helping me stay upright. It got worse when he drew his fingers from me and just focused on my clit. I gasped out behind from where my hands were pressed over my mouth to muffle me, and sort of moved my hips against his fingers.

"You want it harder?" He hummed and I nodded quickly. Kai complied and his fingers increased their pressure and speed, and I could feel myself dripping as I trembled against him. I came in less than a minute, and Kai kept me against him... somewhat.

Really, he kept his arm around me and had his forehead on my shoulder. He was using his right hand, the hand he fingered me with, to jack off. I could hear him moaning and panting, and I could only imagine what he looked like, and I wanted to turn and see, especially when he would place a kiss to my skin every now and then.

Kai pressed his lips to my shoulder and kept them there for a long time as he tensed. I didn't realize what was happening until I felt something warm splatter against my lower back, and I realized he had come.

I gave him a minute to recover, then turned around to face him, my back now being under the stream of water. I didn't say anything. I only pushed some of his hair back before stretching up to kiss him.

I was now all happy and warm, just like he wanted me to be.


	14. Chapter 14

After, it seemed like Kai didn't want to keep his hands off of me. That was sort of ironic to say, considering.

See, Kai told Winter to go somewhere else, he needed the house tonight. I overheard them talking, and when she asked why, he said she could stay as long as she didn't mind listening to me scream.

So she left.

Kai took me to his room where I saw lengths of rope on his bed along with a vibrator. I then got an idea of what he wanted to do.

"Strip," He hummed, watching me, and I looked at him with a raised eyebrow.

"Nothing leading up to it? Just 'strip'?" I asked, then hummed. "Yeah, that'll get me wet."

I reached for my shirt, but Kai sighed and caught my cheek and turned my face so he could kiss me. I smiled a little before I kissed him back, and Kai's hands grabbed at my shirt.

"That's better." I sighed when we parted so he could pull it over my head. Kai joined us again as he got my bra off, then didn't even get my pants off all the way before he dug his hand between my thighs. I gasped and moaned into his mouth as he touched me, and once I was bare, I went over and lied on his bed, letting him tie me up.

"I think you know what's coming." He hummed as he checked where my hands were above my head. I nodded and watched him part my legs and tie them to the bedposts.

"I'm going to leave you here for... hm, thirty minutes," Kai said as he tied the vibrator wand to my thigh, positioning the tip right on my clit. "Don't you dare hold back on coming. When I come back, I want there to be puddles. I want it so I'll probably have to get a new mattress." Kai said, holding perfect eye contact, then leaned over me.

"I have a remote with me, and I'll be listening." He then leaned down close to my face. "If you want it to stop, what's your safeword?"

I thought for all about two seconds. "Hannibal." I decided.

"Hannibal?" He sounded a little amused.

"First thing that popped into my mind." I frowned, but Kai just softly kissed me.

"I love you. You know that, right?" He hummed, and I smiled and nodded. "Good girl." I saw him smile a little before he kissed me again. At the same time, the vibrations started up, and Kai gave me a little wink before he walked out, leaving his bedroom door open.

I tried to keep myself relaxed, as the vibrations hadn't really done much for me so far. I let my eyes fall closed, so I wasn't just staring at his ceiling, and slowly I began to twitch and moan.

It seemed like a flip was switched or something. One minute I'm just lying there trying to chill, and the next, I'm trying my hardest to squirm, though the restraints weren't really letting me. I could sort of feel myself starting to drip, or at least some trailing down my skin, but that could've been sweat, too.

The vibrations then suddenly increased, and I gasped out loudly. My back arched up as I moaned, and I knew I came somewhere around there.

I had absolutely no sense of time. I know Kai said thirty minutes, but it felt like it had been an hour already. I also had lost count of my orgasms, and my clit was really starting to hurt from the over stimulation. I was curious to see if I could tough it out, though.

Kai had walked in when I wasn't paying attention and turned off the vibrator, and I breathed hard, trying to reclaim myself as he freed me from everything.

"You came a lot... good. How do you feel?" Kai asked, and I had no idea how to answer. On one hand, I was super relaxed and tired, but on the other, Jesus fuck I hurt.

"Charlie? You okay?" He asked when I didn't answer.

"I'm good. It just hurts." I let my eyes fall closed to try and rest.

"It hurts? What hurts? Your pussy?" He asked, and I nodded. "Yeah, you are bright red down there. Okay... you stay put, rest up, I'll be back with some ice." Kai touched my leg before he walked out.

I kept my legs parted to not put any pressure on anything. When Kai came back, he sat with me, letting me lean against him and took my hand as he gently pressed the ice pack wrapped in layers of paper towels to me. I hissed, squeezing my eyes shut, and gripped his hand. He just murmured to me and kissed my cheek to try and comfort me.

"Honey, if it hurt, why didn't you use the safeword? You knew I was listening." He asked me softly.

"I wanted to see how much I could take," I admitted.

Kai sighed and kissed my hair. "Don't do that, Charlie. I can't have you hurting yourself." He said and pressed his forehead to the side of my head. I turned my head slightly and gave a soft peck to his lips, touched that he cared so much about me.

"I know you probably feel like passing out, but do you think you could eat a bit first?" Kai hummed, and I gave a small nod. Kai held my hand as I stood on shaky legs and pulled on a pair of panties and a T-shirt, that being all I felt like bothering with right now. The ice had helped alleviate some of the pain, but Kai insisted I keep it between my legs as I ate, just to be sure.

While I was up in his room for those thirty minutes, he was down here, making us food. I ate a good bit, and it was becoming harder and harder to keep my eyes open. Kai got me on the living room sofa, where I passed out. During that time, Kai was stripping his bed and changing the sheets. After he was done with that, he got me and carried me to his room, which was where I woke up in the morning.

I blinked my eyes open and tried to figure out where I was until I saw the blue hair and felt myself pressed against a warm body. I pressed my face into the bare skin of his chest, trying to claim more of his warmth. His hand slid up my waist before traveling back down, and he repeated that pattern. I kept my eyes closed and just let myself relax against him, not wanting to ever leave his side.

Kai turned his face and kissed my hair, and I gave a small smile where I lay. I turned my head slightly and pressed a kiss to a random spot on his skin, then settled again.

"I need to get up, Charlie." Kai sighed, and I frowned, then raised my head to look at him.

"You really have to?" I asked. I could be adorable and make him stay with me, or I could be responsible and let him do what he needed to do.

Kai gazed at me, his eyes flickering across my face as his hand still stroked my skin. He rolled me over him, and I gave a little smile in victory.

"Only for a few minutes. And only because I love you, and you've got the tightest grip on my balls." He sighed and I leaned over and kissed his cheek, giggling a little at the same time.

"You shouldn't have told me that." I hummed before I settled my head down again.

"Yeah? What are you really gonna do with that power?" His hand traveled up my back, spreading the warmth through me.

"I'll probably get you to buy me a pizza at some points. Or at least grab me some shitty fast food." I said with a large smile and felt him laughing under me.

"I know I shouldn't even be surprised. That is entirely like you, Charlie. And yet, I'm still surprised." He sighed and I gave him a little smile. "With my connections, I could buy you diamond earrings and shit. And instead, you want fries."

"Fries taste better than diamonds." I hummed and Kai laughed again. "Then again, I'm only guessing. I've never eaten a diamond before."

"But you see what I'm saying?" He asked and I looked up to meet his impossibly dark eyes.

"Yeah, but I don't want diamonds or anything like that," I said. "What I want is someone who's not going to judge me if I eat chicken nuggets for three days in a row."

Kai leaned forward and softly kissed me, and I smiled just a little as I kissed him back.

"I wouldn't judge you. You know I wouldn't." Kai said softly when we parted.

"That's why I love you." I just smiled brightly at him.


	15. Chapter 15

At the end of one conclusively not entirely important meeting, Ivy came up to me.

"Charlie, you like food, right?" She asked as I shrugged my jacket on.

"Fucking love it." I nodded.

"Would you mind doing me a favor?" She bit her lip nervously.

"Does the favor involve me eating food?" I asked and she nodded. "Then yes."

"Oh, thank you so much." Ivy sighed in relief. "I'd ask my wife to, but she's not all that into ice cream at the moment..."

"Is she insane or something?" I was thoroughly confused on how someone just couldn't be into ice cream. Like sure, some people were lactose sensitive or lactose intolerant, but there was dairy-free ice cream even then, and fucking sherbert.

"Probably." Ivy nodded. I said I'd follow her to her house, and gave Kai a kiss before leaving.

"You haven't even had dinner yet." He scolded me lightly.

"When I was a teenager, four out of seven days a week, ice cream was my dinner." I just grinned with a little shrug.

"How are you not dead?" Kai seemed amused.

"I have no fucking clue." I shook my head and gave him another kiss before walking out and going to my car to follow Ivy home.

"Nice place." I hummed as we walked in. It was very clean and modern looking, but those fucking bookshelves on their wall were driving me crazy. Who the fuck decided tilted bookshelves needed to be a thing?

Ivy leads me into the kitchen, and I set my bag down on a chair as she got tubs of ice cream from the freezer, a scoop, and a bunch of little bowls.

"You made these yourself?" I asked.

"For my restaurant, yeah." She nodded as she scooped some up into a bowl, separating each flavor. She then brought each bowl over, gave me a spoon and a glass of water.

"Okay. What's what?" I asked looking at all the colors.

"This one is banana and peanut butter. That's a vanilla one I put a little bit of cinnamon in, I'm not sure how I feel about it yet. This is a lavender and rose flavored one, and that one is roasted strawberries, honey, and buttermilk." She pointed each one out.

"Alright." I nodded and arranged them in a straight line, starting with the banana peanut butter one. "When I was a kid, I didn't like peanut butter and jelly, I have no clue why, but peanut butter and banana sandwiches? Those were my shit." I nodded as I scooped some up to eat.

"You didn't like PB&J?" She raised an eyebrow at me.

"I got bullied for it." I chuckled with a nod. "It's cos I don't like grape jelly. If someone's going to make me PB&J, I really prefer raspberry or strawberry jelly or jam." I hummed through the ice cream.

"That one's really good. I like it. Might be a bit too thick, though." I said and she nodded.

"I thought so, too." Ivy agreed and I took a drink of water before moving onto vanilla and cinnamon. It was mostly sweet with that little tang of cinnamon, so I gave it a passing grade. But I was mostly excited to try lavender and rose, and that other one.

I immediately fell in love with the lavender and rose one, and stared at Ivy. She looked nervous until I spoke.

"You might've just done something," I said and a big smile came to her face.

"Yeah?"

"Fuck yes." I nodded and went back for another bite. "This gelati shop where I used to live had lavender gelati, and I always wanted to try but didn't have the balls, but oh my God, I was just a pussy." I shook my head as Ivy laughed a little.

"Like... I'm trying to imagine this in a milkshake, and it sounds so good." I sighed. I then decide to come back later to finish the rest and took a drink before trying the roasted strawberries, honey, and buttermilk one.

"Why roast the strawberries?" I asked before tasting it.

"Brings out the flavor more, just makes them a bit sweeter. The buttermilk was for creaminess." Ivy explained and I nodded.

"This would make such a good milkshake, too." I nodded, and Ivy looked so happy.

The front door opened, and Ivy looked over as I was just eating my favorite two ice creams of the four. "That'll be Ally..." Ivy sighed softly so only I could hear, and I rose an eyebrow, and she just shook her head softly.

A brunette and a little blond boy with glasses came in, and I saw her pause for half a second at the sight of me. "Who's this, Ivy?" She asked, obviously keeping her tone friendly.

"This is Charlie. She's a friend who loves to eat." Ivy introduced me, and I gave a smile and a little wave to both of them, as my mouth was full of ice cream at the moment. "Charlie, that's my wife, Ally, and our son, Ozzie."

I quickly swallowed and kept my smile on. "Sorry. Hi, nice to meet you both."

"Oz, why don't you head up and get ready for bed?" Ally said, and the blond kid walked away and up the stairs. I looked back at Ally, keeping my calm face on as I kept eating ice cream.

"Who is she?" Ally more or less snapped with a slightly calm voice, looking at Ivy, and my brow raised at Ally.

"She just said I'm her friend," I spoke up before Ivy could.

"Friend or 'friend'?" Ally asked, and my other brow rose to join the one up on my forehead.

"Ally, what the hell?" Ivy hissed.

"Don't wanna overstep my bounds but, insecure much?" I asked, took a sip of water to clear my throat as Ally just stared at me. "I only ask because the second you saw me, you immediately assumed I was a homewrecker, not even giving it a thought that Ivy might have other friends."

Ally then just stared at me. "You can get out of my house."

I hummed and set the glass down. I slid off the chair and got my car keys out of my bag, then put my bag on my shoulder.

"I'll uh, walk you out," Ivy said softly, and lead me to the door.

"We're talking about this," I mumbled.

"Why?" Ivy looked at me as she opened the front door, and I leaned down a little to get face to face with her.

"Because we look out for each other. We take care of each other." I said and she blinked, then nodded.

"Tomorrow. One in the afternoon at The Butchery." Ivy said and I nodded.

"See ya there." I gave her a little smile before I turned and went to my car. When I got in, I called Kai as I started the car up.

"Hey, Charlie. Everything alright?" He asked when he picked up.

"Yeah, I'm good. Had an idea." I hummed as I drove down their street.

"What's that?" He asked.

"I wanna do something about Ivy's wife. Ally." I said.

"Why? What does she matter?" Kai asked.

"She's a rude ass bitch for one," I said and heard him laugh a little. "Haven't thought up any plans yet, I was just wondering if you'd be interested."

"Of course, I'm interested." He sighed. "No one is rude to my Charlie and gets away with it," Kai said in a low voice, making butterflies erupt in me.

"Okay," I said in a small voice and heard his chuckle. "Um, I'm meeting Ivy tomorrow at one. I'll probably think up something afterward."

"I'm looking forward to hearing your ideas," Kai said, making me smile even wider.


	16. Chapter 16

At twelve-thirty the next day, I drove to Ivy's restaurant and went in. I was prepared to ask for her, but she spotted me as I walked in and waved me over.

"Hey, Charlie. What do you drink?" She asked.

"I don't drink, actually. But soda. I drink a lot of soda." I nodded and Ivy laughed a little, then got me a coke.

"I seriously wonder how you're not dead. Winter's told me about all the shit food you eat." She said and walked me over to a booth with two glasses.

"Shitty food cures my soul." I slid in and took a sip before I spoke. "You mind if I call your wife a bitch?"

"She is a bitch." Ivy nodded and drank a little wine.

"Seriously, the fuck is her problem? Talk to me." I nodded, looking at Ivy. "Start from the beginning."

"I..." Ivy sighed and shook her head. "She gave birth to our son Ozzie. I have endo, I couldn't do it." She said, and I nodded in understanding.

"It just... I guess I was jealous in the beginning. That she could carry our son, and I couldn't, but then she started referring to him as her son like I wasn't his mother too. Like I was just some stranger living in their house with them. She wouldn't even let me feed him." Ivy said, and my jaw dropped.

"Nuh uh. No way. I count that as fucking unacceptable." I shook my head.

"She stopped after he was a few years old. Then her stupid fucking phobias came around again." Ivy rolled her eyes.

"What's she scared of?" I asked.

"What isn't she scared of? She's scared of clowns, blood... holes. Fucking holes. Who's scared of holes?" Ivy sputtered. "And like, I tried to be a good wife and be there for her, but it's fucking constant at this point. I'm tired of her calling me every day because she got scared of something ridiculous."

"I honestly don't blame you." I shook my head. "I've already talked to Kai about doing something with her. I just haven't thought of anything fitting yet... scratch that." I paused, an idea suddenly coming to mind.

"Are there any rooms in your house that lock from the outside?" I asked.

"Some closets, yeah." Ivy nodded. "You have something?" She asked and I nodded.

"You said clowns, blood, and holes, right?" I asked and Ivy nodded. I got my phone out and began making notes, typing quickly to get them all down before I forgot.

"I'm going to need to check out those closets," I said.

"Why?" Ivy asked.

"We're going to do a little redecorating." I gave her a smirk.

I went to a craft store after and looked at material that either looked like it had a lot of clustered holes, or I could make look like it had a bunch of holes in it. And not like Styrofoam, I wanted something harder, sturdier.

I was going to ask Meadow to make some masks until I saw packs of blank face masks. I got a bunch, unsure of how much I'd actually need, and some paint and brushes with them.

I went home and put on some old clothes and got to work painting each individual mask. I actually was having quite a bit of fun with it, too. If Ally fucked any of these up, I'd wring her neck.

Once I deemed I had enough, I stopped for the time being to just let them dry, and tomorrow, I'd spray a sealant on them. So I went to bed so I could get back to work tomorrow.

Ivy called me when Ally was out, and I went over to inspect which closet would be the best to do this in. I took measurements; wall to wall, ceiling to floor, and kept them all in my phone. I told Ivy she might want to work on clearing the closet I close out, and I went off to buy the rest of the material.

I got some help figuring out how to stick wood temporarily to a wall, then how to temporarily stick things to said wood. I then went to some store that sold wood and got the right measurements. And, after extensive research, found a place where I could get the wood laser cut. I had to wait a few days for it to be done, which was fine.

So for those few days, I mainly relaxed, and Ivy told Ally she was going out of town with some of the employees for only a day to taste some things for the restaurant. Oz would be gone for the day, and Ally would be gone for a few hours in the morning, giving us enough time to set up.

When I got the wood back, I spray painted it a dull gold color and asked Kai to tell Jack to steal some blood.

"Why not just use fake blood?" Ivy asked me.

"Doesn't smell the same." I hummed.

The morning everything was ready, Kai, Ivy, and I got all the stuff over at her house and began to set up as quickly as possible. Once the wood was up on the walls and the clown masks were all over the walls, Kai and I took the bags of blood and dripped them down the walls, sinking into the holes and overflowing.

"That... actually looks terrifying. And I'm not even afraid of this stuff." Ivy nodded, obviously impressed.

"Lightswitch is outside of the closet?" I checked and saw it was. "Perfect. We should get a chair, just for good measure." I hummed, and Ivy went off to get one and put it beside the door.

Kai put his arm around my shoulders and kissed my head. "Fuck, you make me proud." He sighed and I turned to smile at him, but he caught my lips.

Kai kissed me for a moment before we heard the front door open. Kai then put on his mask and went to get her as Ivy and I hid. There was a thud, then some yelling. Kai dragged Ally up the stairs, an arm tight around her neck, one holding her arms behind her back, and he threw her in the dark closet and locked the door, then put the chair in place. She was yelling to be let out, and Ivy and I stepped out as he flipped on the switch.

Then she started screaming.

"How long are we leaving her in there for?" Ivy asked, not sounding sympathetic at all.

"Hm... I'd say three hours might do the trick." I tilted my head. "Maybe more if we're feeling generous."

"And if she vomits?" Ivy looked at me.

I pursed my lips. "Add on thirty minutes for every time she vomits. It's eleven now... so we're right now aiming for two." I checked the time. "Hey, you got any more of that ice cream?" I looked over at Ivy.

"The lavender rose, or the strawberry one?" She asked and I hummed.

"I'm feeling lavender rose," I said, then looked at Kai. "You've got to try it. Ivy's a fucking genius."

Kai gave me a little smile. "In a bit. You two go on." He nodded, and we turned to go down to the kitchen, getting ourselves some ice cream.


	17. Chapter 17

"How did you even think it up?" Ivy asked as we were eating ice cream, and Kai came down to join us.

"Honestly, it just came to me. Didn't hit me till later when I realized where I got the inspiration from." I hummed.

"Where?" Ivy's brows pinched together.

"One of my favorite comics. I haven't read it in forever, though..." I hummed, then shook my head. "Anyway, something the villain did was kidnap the hero's friend after shooting the guy's daughter. We don't actually find out what he did to her until later. What the villain did, though, was transform this ride at a carnival to freak out his victim, and one room was full of blown up pictures of his naked daughter, bleeding, and in pain."

"The point was to prove that it only takes a little push to drive someone to insanity. Insanity is like the mind's emergency exit, after all." I explained, then pointed my spoon to the stairs, where Ally was still screaming and crying.

"That's exactly what we're doing with Ally. Surrounding her with her absolute worst fears until she eventually breaks. Best case scenario, she'll be deemed unfit to take care of Oz, leaving you as the sole parent. You could kick her out, divorce her, just be rid of her, however the hell you want. She might be sent to a hospital, maybe she'll just become a shell. Who fucking knows?" I shrugged.

Both Ivy and Kai were just staring at me with varying levels of awe showing on their faces.

"You said we look out for each other. We care about each other." Ivy said and I nodded. "But I'm still confused as to why you'd do this for me."

"Well, the first reason is for that shit she pulled with your kid." I hummed. "The second is cos she thought I was a homewrecker the literal second she saw me."

"She what?" Kai said, and I forgot I didn't tell him that.

"Yeah. Said it right to our faces too." I nodded.

"Bitch." He sighed.

"She is." Ivy nodded.

After a little while, she had to go to work, so we just stayed in her house to keep a metaphorical eye on Ally.

"It feels weird being in someone else's house when they're not here." I hummed.

"Wanna fuck somewhere and never tell Ivy?" Kai asked, and a grin came to my face.

"Depends where." I looked back at him, and he came towards me, tugging me closer to him.

"The counter?" He hummed.

"Cold. You can be more creative." I said, starting to play with his hair.

"Well, their bed is a bit boring." Kai ran his fingers along my back.

"There's their bathroom, the living room..." I began to list, trying to think.

"I'll agree to the living room if you ride me." Kai looked into my eyes.

"Deal." I nodded and pulled him down into a kiss. Kai tasted sweet, like the ice cream we just had, and I followed as he tugged me to lead me to the living room, undoing my jeans and his as we went. We parted for a moment to get our shoes and socks off, our pants off, then more or less crashed back together.

I giggled against his lips as he pulled at my shirt, and impatiently undid my bra at the same time. I pulled on his shirt, then slipped my panties off. Kai then pushed me to the wall, kissing me hard, then left heated kisses on my neck. He trailed down until he was on his knees on the floor, and I parted my legs for him.

He kept eye contact as he leaned forward and attached his mouth to me, and my jaw dropped at the feeling.

"Oh, fuck, Kai..." I sighed, running my fingers through his hair. He ate me out a little harder, his hands gripping my hips, holding them at the perfect angle for him to not miss an inch of me with his tongue.

Sure, his tongue licking over and digging into my entrance was great, but what had me shaking was him flicking his tongue across my clit, pausing every ten seconds or so just to give a long, slow lick to the bud.

He kept that pattern up until I nearly came, but he didn't let me come. Kai instead stood up and gave me a kiss, making me taste myself. I then turned him to the wall and kissed him a little harder as I tugged down his boxers, then dropped to my knees.

I stroked him a little, looking up and meeting his eyes. "Please don't choke me, okay?" I asked. Kai just nodded, and I lifted his length in my hand and licked up his underside.

Dick didn't taste as bad as I thought it would. It was just a bit salty, probably from sweat. Other than that, not horrible.

I kept my tongue on his tip for a bit as I kept stroking him, continuing to watch his reactions so I could figure out what he liked best. When I decided I should stop teasing him, I slipped my lips over his head and focused on that before I tried to take any more into my mouth.

Kai let out this beautiful groan as his fingers tangled into my hair. He swore softly, which made me feel a sort of rush of wetness between my thighs. I took a few more inches until I started to feel my gag reflex kick in, and I pulled back, knowing that was how much I could take at the moment. I went back down, bobbing my head on him, using my hand on what I couldn't get into my mouth.

Kai's reactions were nothing less than heavenly.

I pulled off when he got close, and stood back up, wiping my mouth with the back of my hand. Kai tugged me close and kissed me hard and deep, and went to the couch. He sat down and pulled me onto his lap. I ground myself against him as Kai gently touched my clit, then he lifted my hips so I could sink down on him.

My jaw dropped and I let out a breathy moan as I felt him fill me, and rocked my hips back and forth on him. I felt hot all over, and Kai's hands and lips roaming my skin wasn't helping.

I couldn't stop myself moaning, and I already felt pretty fucking close. I went a little faster, and Kai licked his thumb before he pressed it to my clit. I trembled and my eyes snapped shut as my head tilted back.

To help him along, I slightly squeezed him with my muscles and heard him sharply inhale. "Fuck, do that again." He breathed out, and so I set a pattern of tightening my muscles every time my hips rocked forward.

My head dropped as I got extremely close, and sort of lost the pattern. Kai pressed harder down onto my clit, and I gasped loudly and stilled, coming around him. Kai continued to rub me, his hips digging deeper into mine as he came in me.

"That's my girl." He sighed as he relaxed. Kai helped me off of him and next to him to curl up and relax in the calm afterglow.

That's what I was. His girl.


	18. Chapter 18

Hours and hours later, Ivy still hadn't come home, and we checked on Ally and found her passed out.

"Wanna drop her somewhere that'll leave her totally confused?" I asked and saw him grin.

"I know just the place." He hummed. We got her in his car and left for a few minutes to take her to the middle of fucking nowhere.

"Here. Help me strip her." Kai said, and I got her shoes off.

"We're not raping her." I gave him a look.

"No, we're not raping her. It'll just add to her confusion." He gave a little shrug. That, I could agree to.

We stripped her and tossed her clothes in the backseat and just left her on the forest floor and drove away, back to the house. We got back in and started to clean up the closet. The masks went back into my car, but the bloody wood? That had to be properly disposed of.

We also cleaned the rug of her vomit, and I Googled what to do, as neither of us had any fucking clue.

"Vinegar... she's probably got vinegar, right?" I hummed and went to check the kitchen. I found a mason jar and poured in vinegar and water, shook it, then went up and poured it on the stained carpet.

"Google said to give that fifteen to twenty minutes." I hummed as Kai walked back down with me.

"Shouldn't Ivy be getting back soon?" He sighed, sitting on the couch.

"Aw, are you sick of me already?" I teased.

Kai gave me a little look. "Come here." He nodded, and I went over and he made me sit on his lap. He held my face and made me look at him.

"Joking or not, don't you ever think I'd ever get sick of you. I love you far too much for that." Kai said, and I pressed my lips together tightly, then held up my pinky. Kai's eyes sort of softened, and he linked his with mine.

"I once read something someone said that a lot of couples fall out of love for the same reasons they fell in love," I said, looking at our locked pinkies. "So, I believe you now, but what about in the future? Maybe with time, you will get sick of me."

Kai stared at me, and I couldn't let myself meet his eyes.

"I think you shouldn't have tried to get close with Ivy's marriage." He said softly. "It's obviously fucked up, really beyond repair at this point... I just knew it would rub off on you some way."

Then I did let myself look at Kai, and his free hand started to trace my hair. "Just know for now that I'm not letting what we have become as fucked as what they had. Understand?" He asked, and I nodded.

Kai then leaned forward and kissed me, keeping it slow and soft. When we parted, we kept our foreheads together and didn't bother letting go of each other's pinkies.

"I wish I could spend every day like this, with you." Kai breathed, and I smiled.

"I have to work and make money, Kai," I said. "But there are days I want the same. I could spend forever just kissing you." I sighed and touched his cheek.

"Your uncles are rich, though." He said, and I gently shook my head.

"That's not my money," I said. "I just live in their big ass house."

Kai tilted his head up and met my lips again. It wasn't as long this time, and he hummed when he pulled back.

"Maybe I could convince your boss that you need more time to work on more important things. Paid time off." He said, and I gave him a little smile.

"Yeah? How do you plan on doing that?" I hummed.

"If I can't recruit him, there's always a threat that'll make people do whatever you want them to," Kai smirked. "It's different for every person. You just have to find what it is."

Kai then tipped my head back by tugging on my hair and began to kiss at my jaw and neck. I loved how soft and sweet his lips were, but fuck, the scratch of his facial hair against my skin drove me wild. Just feeling it between my thighs earlier was simply amazing.

"I'm spending the night with you." He hummed near the base of my throat before he kissed it.

"Are you now?" I hummed and got another hum in response. He licked over my skin slowly, giving me shivers.

"I'm nowhere near done with you today." Kai sighed against my skin, his fingers digging into my back a little.

I was about to tilt his chin up to kiss him deeply, but the front door started to open. I gave a small groan and stood to greet Ivy.

"Hey. How's Ally?" She asked.

"No clue." Kai shrugged. "She fell unconscious, so we dropped her in a forest."

Ivy thought for a second, then hummed and gave a shrug. "Alright. Everything's cleaned up?"

"Yep. Just wipe up the vinegar I put on the vomit stain up there in a few minutes." I said, and she nodded.

"Thank you both, so much." She gave us grateful smiles.

"We look out for each other." Kai simply said. He then pulled me out after saying bye and drove behind me as I drove home. I got the masks and carried them up to my room and set them aside before I kicked my shoes off and turned to Kai. He came over to me and slipped his fingers into my hair, but still held my cheeks.

"You said you could spend forever kissing me?" He asked very softly, and I nodded, hypnotized by his eyes. A tiny smile came to his lips, and he leaned down slightly, and I instinctively closed my eyes.

"I could, too." He murmured before touching his lips to mine, keeping our kisses soft, slow, and sweet. I was fine with standing in place to kiss him, but sitting or lying on my bed would be even better. So I tugged his shirt lightly and stepped back, and Kai followed me, letting me lead him to my bed.

We tried just sitting, but the temptation became too much and we had to be closer and lie together. So I was soon under him, my hands holding his face, stroking his skin and hair, and Kai just kept close to me. He seemed like he was holding himself back like he wanted to kiss me harder, but another part of him just wanted to keep it slow.

While slow kisses were my favorite, as they gave me time to really feel and memorize everything about him, I wouldn't complain if he kissed me harder. To give him permission, I bit his lip a bit, and Kai pushed his lips just a bit harder onto mine.

After some minutes, he placed his forehead against mine, kissing me every fifteen seconds or so. During the short time he wasn't kissing me, Kai was busy murmuring to me. Just about how he loved me, how he'd never stop loving me, how beautiful he thought I was, along with how he thought I was amazing.

"Kai, come on." I sighed. "You're going to make me get all emotional and shit."

"Good," He said with a nod. "It means I'm getting through to you, it means you believe me. It means you love me just as much."

I closed my eyes and nodded, trying to stem the hot tears, but that did nothing. Kai kissed the corners of my eyes, making me smile as more tears spilled.


	19. Chapter 19

I was over at Kai's and wanted to fuck with him a bit, heavy emphasis on the 'fuck' part.

So I spent a good amount of time just thinking of things to get me in the mood, and kept my thoughts on whatever made me feel butterflies and tingles. Winter called that she was leaving and he got up, saying he just had to talk to her real quick before she left. Perfect.

I waited till he was gone, then quietly got myself naked, and wet my fingers and slowly stroked myself, making sure Kai would have a perfect view when he walked back in.

And he did have the most perfect view. He paused by the doorway and just stared. I gave him a little smile before I slipped my middle finger into myself and back out again, repeating that pattern, and made sure to stroke my G spot, making me take breathier moans as I said his name.

"Charlie..." His voice sounded closer, and the bed sunk down where he got on it. "If you wanted me, you could've just said so." I heard fabric rustling as he stripped.

"This is a bit more fun than just telling you, don't you think?" I smiled again and let my jaw drop as I slid my finger out and back up to my clit, giving slow strokes.

"Fuck..." I heard Kai breathe, and his hand wrapped around my wrist. I peeked down just as he took my wet fingers into his mouth to clean them off, then lowered his mouth down to my core.

I moaned and rolled my hips against his face. He gripped my hips, pressing me closer to him, and dug his tongue as deep as he could into before he started to fuck me with it. I called his name and gripped his hair, warning him as I got close to coming.

I expected him to pull back and finish me off another way, but he kept his mouth on me, sucking hard on my clit as I squirmed and screamed my moans out. Kai held me down as I came, and he licked up my slit, collecting my come on his tongue.

I lied back, still softly shaking, and pulled him up to me. I aimed to kiss him, but Kai pushed himself into my sensitive opening, and my mouth fell right open. Kai lowered himself down to get closer to me, and I let my arms fold around his neck to keep him close.

"I love you." I blinked up at him, just feeling the need to say it. "Fuck, I love you so much."

Kai smiled before he kissed me, slowing his movements down some. "I love you, too. So very much." He sighed before he kissed me again.

After we both came, we lied together, just holding onto each other. Kai then held up his pinky, and I furrowed my brows before I took it.

"What's your favorite flower?" He asked, and I looked over, very confused.

"What?"

Kai just turned his head and looked at me. "It's a pretty simple question, Charlie. What's your favorite flower?"

"Baby's breath. Why...?" I started to ask.

"What's your favorite food?" He said and I gave a little laugh before I hummed in thought.

"I don't know... it's hard to choose." I bit my lip.

"Favorite dessert, then?"

"Ooh, I'd say ice cream, but I eat ice cream all the fucking time, so that's not really a dessert for me, that's just food..." I pursed my lips in thought. "I'm going to say it's either cheesecake or peach cobbler. Scratch that, any kind of cobbler." I nodded in confirmation, and Kai gave a little laugh.

"Favorite drink?"

"Diet Coke." I smiled a little.

"If you could have anything you wanted, what would it be?" He asked and I paused.

"That's a very broad question," I said.

"Regardless of price or availability, anything you want," Kai said.

"Oh, you're talking physical, like material." I nodded slowly and thought hard. Nothing was really coming to mind. "I have everything I want. Why are you asking this sort of stuff?"

"I want... to do something for you. Something that will prove I love you." He said, studying our hands.

"You don't have to prove you love me. I know it, Kai." I turned on my side to curl up with him.

"I still want to show it." He said and met my eyes. "We can say it as much as we want to, but I feel like it means so much more when you show it, too. And I don't think I've been showing you that I love you. All I've been doing is saying it. Actions speak louder than words, right?"

"Kai, you have shown me you love me. You've done so much for me. Trust me, you've shown it." I gave him a smile.

"I want to do more, though, Charlie. I... I feel like I'm not doing enough." He let his eyes close, and I used my free hand to softly touch his cheek.

"You are. You are enough. You're perfect." I said, and he looked at me again, his dark eyes showing a certain softness that was reserved for me and me alone.

"Sometimes I think you're too kind to me. I don't deserve your kindness." Kai sighed.

"Well, too bad, because I disagree." I huffed. "You're getting all my kindness." I then smiled softly.

Kai gazed at me, seemingly deep in thought. I kept quiet and let him think, and after some time, he raised our still joined pinkies between us and kissed my knuckles.

"If I asked you to stay with me forever, would you say yes?" He asked.

"Yes." I didn't even need to think about my answer. Kai smiled a little, which made me smile. He didn't smile often, especially not around others, so I loved seeing his smile. I loved seeing him happy in general.

"Will you stay with me forever?" He asked, and I nodded.

"Yes," I said, and he came forward and softly kissed me. I closed my eyes and kissed him back, then realized how much I didn't want to reopen my eyes.

When Kai pulled back, I asked him if he needed to get up. When he said no, I put my arm around him and put my head to rest on his chest.

"Okay. You're comfy and warm, and I'm always going to take naps on you." I said, and his hand lightly stroked my back, calming me even further.

"Sweet dreams, my love." Kai hummed, and I smiled softly as I drifted off against him.


	20. Chapter 20

Kai called me over a few days later, and he told me to let myself in and come to the dining room. So I went on over, took the key from under the mat, and opened the door. I put it back, stepped in, and locked up before I hung my jacket up and went to the dining room.

When I stepped in, Kai had a bouquet of flowers, mostly baby's breath, in a vase. He also had several types of cheesecake on a platter, and there was a wrapped present on the table too.

"What's this?" I smiled, glancing at him where he sat at the head of the table.

"For you." Kai just said, and I smiled softly and went over, setting my bag down.

"I told you you didn't have to do anything." I shook my head and he held his arm out to me, so I went over and sat on his lap as he put his arm around me.

"And I told you I wanted to." Kai just said. "I want you to be happy, Charlie. I need you to know that I love you, and I don't want any doubts about that in your mind."

I looked down at him, as it now clicked in place. "Are you planning something that might put that doubt in my mind, Kai?"

He just sighed and rubbed my back, and I gave him a harder look. "It's not the right time." He shook his head. "But I do love you, very much, and I want you by my side forever."

Kai then caught my cheek and brought my face down so he could kiss me, and he kept it soft and sweet. I happily kissed him back, and if he meant for this to be a short kiss, oh well.

I let my fingers slip into his hair and hold him to me, and Kai had his hands on my back, pressing me closer to him. He became impatient again, which I loved, and was kissing me deeper and deeper with each passing second.

"Who knew you were a romantic." We heard Winter say, and Kai gave a small groan.

"Go away." He simply said before he kissed me again, and I would have laughed if I could.

"Alright. But if you two fuck anywhere that isn't your room, Kai, you better clean up afterward." She said and walked away, and we heard the front door close.

"Just for that, we're fucking in her room," Kai said, and I laughed a little.

"Then let's go." I slid out of his lap and took his hand, pulling him up.

"Now?" He asked and looked from me to the cheesecake.

"Cheesecake is good, but it's not better than sex," I said, which amused him and he leads me to Winter's room.

When we were done fucking up her room (I'm so funny, and nobody can tell me different), Kai and I sort of got dressed again and went back down. Sex made people hungry. I'm pretty sure it's science.

So we sat together, me in my T-shirt and panties and Kai in his boxers and jeans, and talked as we ate. Kai had gotten one of those cheesecake platters that had a bunch of different types; normal, chocolate, strawberry, and chocolate swirl. Kai tried to ask me which was my favorite, to which I just couldn't make myself answer.

At some random point, Kai looked up with a look of realization on his face.

"I am so fucking stupid." He sighed.

"No, you're not. What's up?" I asked.

"After this, get dressed. We're going out." Kai said, and I nodded.

So I got my jeans and shoes on, got my jacket and bag, and got into Kai's car. He drove us into town, then parked and took my hand when we got out. He leads me to a store, and I grew nervous when I saw what it was. I had to check to see if anyone was watching us, and Kai dropped my hand to hold my back.

"No one is watching you. I promise. No one cares." He told me, but I had to check again. I saw a flash of red curls, and my brows furrowed.

"You okay?" Kai asked as he opened the door, and I stepped in.

"Thought I saw someone I knew..." I hummed, then shook my head and turned back to look at the shop. "Any ideas?" I asked him, as I had none.

Kai hummed and picked up a paddle, and I bit my lip. "I don't... really like being hit..." I admitted in a small voice.

So Kai dropped the paddle. "Okay." He nodded and looked around a bit more. I was so glad about how understanding and caring he was to me. I knew with any other member, he'd probably say he doesn't care what they don't like, they're going to do it anyway. He'd probably pull some manipulative shit to make them do it so they could please him. Cos who would want to displease Kai?

Nobody, that's who.

I'd never admit it to his face, or to anyone really, but these were the things I absolutely hated about Kai. He's a manipulative little shit who probably has convinced someone to have sex with him when they didn't want to. I... I fucking hate that, but I'm also terrified of talking to him about it.

We got to a wall of dildos, and Kai stood beside me to block off a section. "What are you doing?" I asked.

"You can't look at that part." He shook his head.

"Why not?"

"I can't have you thinking I'm small." He simply said, which made me laugh.

"Kai, for one, I don't care about size. And two, you're not small." I rolled my eyes. Kai looked over at me with a questioning look, and he saw I wasn't joking at all.

"Why are you such a good person, but a bad person at the same time? I don't get it." He shook his head, then picked up a package that had a bright pink dildo in it.

"Ew. No. Put that back." I pushed his hand, and he raised an eyebrow at me. "I hate pink. It's not gonna work if it's pink. Trust me, I've tried." I shook my head as Kai laughed a little.

He picked up some others to inspect, and I found this green jelly one that was also a vibrator and had a fuckload of settings. I showed Kai to look at, and he considered it an option.

"You think we should get a remote control vibrator?" He hummed.

"No. Definitely not." I shook my head and he smirked at me.

"What? You don't trust me?"

"Not with a remote control vibrator, which I know for a fact you'll want to use in public." I gave him a look.

"Guilty." He shrugged and put it back. I spotted the cock rings and showed Kai.

"Interested?" I asked, and he hummed.

"What the hell." He shrugged and added them to our goodies. We then decided that was about enough and went to go pay. When that was done, we stepped out and Kai asked if I was interested in some ice cream or something.

"Are you just trying to spoil me?" I asked as he put the bag in his car, then put his arm around me and pulled me to his side after he locked it and walked us off.

"Yes. Am I not allowed to?" He asked.

"I mean, I can't actually stop you. I just don't really know how to accept gifts and stuff..." I admitted.

Kai turned and kissed my hair. "You're doing fine so far."

"Thanks." I smiled and brought myself even closer. "And thank you."

Kai wordlessly kissed my head again, but I knew exactly what he meant.


	21. Chapter 21

It was a few days later when we learned from Ivy that Ally was in the looney bin, and they were getting divorced. Harrison also mentioned that Meadow has a new friend who might be a good addition.

"We'll meet her later." Kai just said. "See what she's like."

"We?" Harrison asked, and Kai just put his hand on my shoulder.

"We." Kai nodded. "Meadow, you can introduce us later, if you want." He hummed and just continued.

It took a day for a meeting to be scheduled, where Meadow would bring this girl down to the basement to meet Kai and I. We were waiting for them on the couch, and Kai had his arm around me.

"I don't trust Meadow." I sighed. "So I already don't trust her friend."

"Why don't you trust Meadow?" Kai looked over at me.

"She obviously hates me." I hummed and scooted down so I could put my head on his shoulder.

"Obviously?"

"Kai, you're not stupid. You know she's in love with you." I rolled my eyes.

"Oh, right." He just nodded a little. "She wouldn't dare try anything with you. She wouldn't want to upset me."

"Meadow's not that smart." I smiled a little.

"If she tries anything, I have no problem with getting rid of her." Kai murmured into my ear before he bit it softly, making me giggle. He kept playing with my ear with his lips before he went to kiss my neck, and I bit my lip hard to keep from moaning too loud.

"Kai, they could come down any minute now." I hummed, but still tilted my head to give him more room, as I fucking loved the butterflies he made me feel.

"I don't care." He mumbled before licking over my skin where he just bit down on me. I gasped before I smiled, then ran my fingers through his hair.

"That's my girl." He praised before sucking on my skin right by my pulse point.

I heard the door to the basement open, and Kai pulled back slightly, pressing soft kisses to the mark he probably left before he looked up.

"Meadow. And you are?"

"Danny." A familiar voice said, and my head snapped up before I stood up. I looked at the gorgeous tan girl with wild deep red curls, and I felt my lip curl.

"No. You can leave." I said, then glared at Meadow. "You must think you're so fucking clever."

"Hi, Charlie," Danny said as I walked over to pin Meadow to the wall by her neck.

"Fuck yourself." I spat before glaring at Meadow and putting pressure on her neck with my forearm.

"Who is she?" Kai just asked.

"My ex." I huffed, taking pleasure as Meadow's face began to turn red. "The fuck did you think was going to happen? What exactly was your plan here, Meadow?"

"Let her go, Charlie," Kai said calmly, and I glared before I stepped back. I looked over at him, and he held his hand out to me. I went over and joined his side, crossing my arms over my chest as his arm wrapped around me.

"I take it the break up was bad?" He hummed, and I scoffed and looked away. "I'm going to go ahead and guess that Meadow thought if she brought back an ex, you'd leave me." Kai rubbed my waist.

"As if." I rolled my eyes, then glared at Danny. "I'm not stupid enough to get back with someone who cheated on me."

"I did not cheat on you." Danny shook her head.

"Oh, so I imagined you making out with some guy when I was supposed to be meeting you?" I tilted my head.

"I told you before. He was just my friend." Danny stared at me, and I honestly didn't care about anything else right now.

"Right. Because friends shove their tongues down each other's throats." I pursed my lips and nodded. "I've been doing all my friendships wrong, apparently."

"You didn't even listen to my side of the story!"

"I had no obligation to!" I stared at her.

"Tell you what." Kai started, squeezing my waist a little, and I looked up to him. "Meadow, you go home. I'll deal with you later. You two, over here." Kai said and lead us to the table. He brought over another chair and we all sat down, then he held up both pinkies, which I immediately took.

"Once you take it, you have to be completely honest to whatever I ask. I will know if you lie." He said, and she nodded and took his pinky.

"What's your side of the story?" He asked. I rolled my eyes and sat back in the chair, and Kai glanced at me. "You don't have to listen. I'm just curious."

"Charlie and I were supposed to meet up for drinks." Danny started. "A sort of study date. One of my friends was there and came over to talk to me. I sort of lost track of time, and yeah, maybe I did forget about Charlie a little, and soon he was confessing to me that he liked me and thought I was pretty. Then he kissed me." She said, then looked over at me as I stared with a dead blank face at her. "I wasn't into it."

"You seemed pretty into it from where I was standing. Which was only a few feet away." I just said, unimpressed.

"What are you doing with Meadow?" He asked her.

"Meadow contacted me. Said she was a friend of one of my old friends. She told me that if I came and stayed with her and her husband, I could help her with something my old friend did to her." Danny shook her head. "Wasn't till I got here that I knew it was Charlie."

"Did Meadow tell you what actually happened, or did she just villainize Charlie?" Kai asked.

"She told me Charlie sent out a hit to cut Meadow's tongue out," Danny answered.

"Did she tell you that the reason her tongue was cut out was because she went and attacked Charlie at her job?" Kai then asked and Danny's face just fell and she shook her head.

Kai shifted his eyes to me, and he seemed to be thinking about something. "Danny, what did Meadow tell you about us?"

"She said you're a great leader who's going to change the world. She says you're going to take it by storm." Danny said.

"Are you interested?" Kai just asked.

"I'd be lying if I said no." She gave a little smile.

Kai slipped his pinky from mine and held my hand. "Go wait upstairs, okay, baby?" He said softly to me, and I was sad he was actually considering her, but I nodded and got up to leave anyway.

I went into their kitchen and just stood, trying to think of something to do that would distract me from the tears and the anger.

I ended up just making tea, and after some minutes, heard two sets of footsteps coming up from the basement. Danny left the house and Kai came into the kitchen. I didn't look at him, just kept my eyes on my tea.

"Is she joining?" I asked in a small voice.

"Yes," Kai answered, and I squeezed my eyes shut as my head dropped a little. "Charlie. Charlie, no. It's not how you think it is." He came over and turned me to face him before he brought me into a hug, crushing me to his frame.

"She's not a real member. Not really. She won't last." He said in my ear. "She'll think she's actually a member. Everyone else will think she's a member. But you and I? We have plans for her."

"We do?" I pulled back to look at him and he wiped under my eyes.

"She's only going to be here for a few weeks. She thinks after, she'll be going back home and starting her own branch there, getting us even more followers." He explained. "Really, she's only going to be alive for maybe two more weeks."

I looked up into his eyes and saw that he was completely serious. Kai brought his face closer to mine as he ran his thumb across my bottom lip and cheek.

"I told you," He whispered. "No one hurts you and gets away with it."


	22. Chapter 22

Kai and I had worked out a little plan, and he called a meeting to introduce the newest member. I put on a skirt for once in my life, and now people knew I had tattoos on my legs, too.

"Ivy, hey. How's Ozzie?" I asked when she walked in.

"Confused, but he's alright. Winter's helping him... in her own special way." She threw a smile to the silver-haired girl, who gave a tight-lipped smile.

"How did you two even manage to drive someone to that level of insanity?" Beverly asked.

"It's a secret." I simply smiled.

"Charlie," Kai called, and I looked up and went over to him. He patted the spot beside him on the couch, next to the armrest, and I sat down. "Legs up." He hummed, and I curled my legs up where I sat, my knees on his lap. Kai almost immediately began tracing a tattoo by my knee with his finger.

"I've been thinking about getting another. Not sure what I want though." I pressed my lips together. "I just sort of miss how the needles feel."

"I want to choose your next tattoo." He hummed and drummed his fingers on my skin, and I gave him an unsure look.

"You can give me ideas, but the end result is my decision," I said and he gave a little shrug, then called for the meeting to start.

"Everyone, this is Danny. Introduce yourselves." Kai simply said as he gestured to her, and today she was wearing a girly sundress with high wedges. I hated how pretty she was.

I told Kai about that, too. She used to be a real tomboy, she hated dresses and makeup and heels and everything. Then, after we broke up, she did a complete one-eighty. I mean, she was pretty when she wore no makeup, but now that she was older _and_ had the added assistance... I compared her to a goddess in my mind a lot, and I fucking hated it.

Here she was with perfectly golden brown skin and adorable freckles, while I was the color of mayo. She was taller than I was and had softer curves. I just seemed to have edges; sharp hipbones and a literal sideways V for a waist. She had meat on her, whilst I was skin and bone. She had these gorgeous chocolate eyes, beautiful dark red curls, and full lips.

When I ranted about that while we were in my room, Kai told me to shut up, then he stripped me. He told me I was just as beautiful, and he found me perfect. He told me he loved my hazel eyes, he was so fond of my thick ass green and purple hair, and he would happily die if it was my lips that suffocated him.

I then told him that was a bit much, and Kai only laughed and proceeded to show me how much he loved me and my body.

But now I was, staring at her figure in that fucking dress with a clenched jaw. I was so fucking mad at how well it suited her. I wish dresses made me look like that.

Kai apparently noticed, and his fingers turned my head towards him by my chin. He ran his thumb across my jawline, and I relaxed it at once. Kai gave me the smallest of a smile and turned back to the group as they finished introducing themselves.

"Good. Now that that's out of the way..." He hummed and looked at me. I nodded and got up to go to the back of the basement and find what we needed for our activity today. He made Meadow come over to him and had her turn away from him and kneel. Knowing Meadow, she did exactly as she was told.

"What's happening?" Harrison asked and I guess he put the blindfold on her. I came back just as he was tying her hands behind her back. Kai then made her stand and walked her over to the table. He bent her over it, and I hated the blush that appeared on her cheeks.

"You're our example, Meadow." He said and held his hand out to me. I handed him the whip, then stood beside him.

Harrison stood and glared at me. "This is enough, Charlie. Haven't you punished her enough? You took her fucking tongue!"

"Actually, Charlie had nothing to do with this," Kai said, and Harrison just looked at him. "This was all me, and no, apparently she hasn't been punished enough, as she still hasn't learned her lesson." He then looked at Meadow.

"We're a family here. You don't try to betray your family. You don't turn against them, and you definitely don't try to force them apart." Kai said so everyone would hear. He then leaned down to talk just to Meadow. "I like you, Meadow, I do. You're useful, and you're a damn good artist. But if you try this shit again, you're just out of warnings and usual punishments. Understand?"

Meadow nodded, and he stood back up. "Danny, seeing as you're our new addition and part of Meadow's scheme, you can go first." He said and held the handle of the whip to her. Danny got up and came over, and took the whip, and just stared at it as Kai backed both me and him up so we wouldn't get hit.

"How many?" She asked, looking at him.

"We'll start with one for each person." He said and nodded to the others to get in a group and wait their turn.

Danny took a swing, and when the whip cut through Meadow's shirt and skin, she cried out. Then Danny handed the whip off for someone else's turn.

When everyone had gone aside from Kai and me, Kai went over to inspect. He hummed, then told everyone they could go. He told Winter that she had to stay in the house to help Meadow when he was done with the second part of her punishment.

That's when I grew nervous. He warned me what he had planned, and I was a little hesitant, but even I had to admit, it would probably make her back off.

Kai moved her to a chair to sit and told her she would be there for a little bit. I stood, leaning on the headrest of the couch as Kai came over to me, and he kissed me as he tugged up my skirt. I let him and kissed him harder when he slid my panties down my thighs.

"Suck." He simply ordered, loud enough for Meadow to hear, and I took two of his fingers into my mouth, keeping eye contact as I sucked on them, getting them nice and wet.

"Good girl." He praised, then nudged my legs farther apart before he touched me, and I gave a sharp little inhale. Kai slid his fingers into me, making me moan and bite my lip as I closed my eyes, and Kai pressed a kiss under my jaw as he pumped his fingers in and out of me.

"Louder." He commanded softly, and I obediently let my mouth fall open as he stroked my G spot, and gave a breathy moan.

I quickly got close, and Kai slid his fingers out to rub at my clit.

"Who makes you feel this good?" He asked.

"Kai," I answered, gripping his shoulders as I moaned and gasped.

"Who is the only person that can touch you like this?" He rubbed a little harder.

"Kai," I answered again, my moans a little louder, and my hips bucked against his hand.

"Who is the only person I touch like this? Who is the only person I love?" He then asked, his fingers bringing me right to the edge as he pressed onto my clit.

"M-me." I sputtered as I tried to keep a hold of myself.

"Yes, baby. You. Now come for me." He ordered, and I practically came on command, my head falling to his chest as I gripped his shoulders and trembled.

Kai helped me lie back on the couch, and then he went to go get Meadow so Winter could clean her up. I watched as saw Meadow was now free of the restraints and the blindfold. I didn't mind her seeing me lying half-naked on the couch, come still slick on my thighs. I just watched her leave, then gave a little smile to Kai as he came back to me, and dug his head between my thighs to clean me up, but make even more of a mess as he did so.

I know what we just did to Meadow was absolutely, entirely fucked up. But at the moment, I really couldn't make myself give a shit.


	23. Chapter 23

I fucking hate the sun.

Today was one of Kai's rallies, being held outside. He had a pretty good turnout, which lowkey surprised me. A lot of people had dyed blue hair, which I knew he absolutely loved.

I was sitting a little ways off beside the stage that was set up, dressed slightly better than usual. Yeah, I was still wearing jeans, but I also had on heels, a nicer shirt, and my hair was done up instead of just in wild waves or a messy ass bun.

"You look good, Charlie." I heard someone say, and I looked up from my phone and saw Dany. She short a pair of floral shorts with a flowy shirt and wedges that made her legs look miles long. I hated her.

I stood up, tucking my phone in my pocket, and hummed. "Thanks. I kinda have to put in some effort for Kai's race."

She tilted her head slightly and hummed. "Come with me. I was just about to go get a smoothie. We should talk."

I glanced at Kai at the podium, and Danny chuckled. "The Charlie I know wouldn't let a man have control over anything she does."

"He doesn't control me." I snapped. "I just don't want him to worry if he finishes up and sees I'm not here."

"He's a big boy. He'll be fine. Come on." She said and pulled me along the sidewalk. I felt a little guilty, but I was going to stay on my toes and keep my eye out for any tricks.

"You know, when we were together, I hated your introvertedness," Danny said and I looked over. "It was one reason why I wanted to leave you. You kept bailing on me."

"So you did want to leave me." I nodded slowly.

"Yeah, okay. I'll admit that. I did want to leave you." She said. "You were going through things, I had my studies..."

"I had a fucking mental breakdown, Danny. I needed stability, something to keep me grounded. You didn't exactly help there." I rolled my eyes.

"Like I knew how to handle someone going through shit." Danny scoffed. We got to the smoothie shop by the park, and she offered to pay for mine, too. Once we had our drinks, we walked right back into the park, headed to the stage again.

"Charlie, you told me things about you you've never told anyone. I never told anyone those things." Danny said.

"There's things I've told others that I haven't told you about me, too," I said and continued to sip my smoothie with strawberries, raspberries, oranges, and pineapple.

"Does Kai know what I know?" She stared at me as I stared forward.

"I don't even remember what you know. He knows more than you do, that's for sure." I said.

Danny huffed a little. "Meadow told me you were just Kai's cock sleeve that he let pretend you mean something to him."

"Someone should make her shut her whore mouth up... oh wait." I hummed. "Meadow doesn't know shit about Kai and I. Stop listening to third parties, Danny."

She then caught my arm and made me look at her. "I don't understand, Charlie. We were going to get married, have kids..."

"We were young. We didn't know what we were talking about." I shook my head.

"What happened?" She looked desperate.

"What happened was I saw you kissing someone while we were supposed to be on a date." I stared blankly at her. "It's not too hard of a concept to grasp, Danny. You cheated. I don't forgive cheating."

"I didn't mean to!" She said and I turned to walk away.

"Bullshit." I scoffed.

"I'm being honest, Charlie." She said.

"Then why did you lean in?" I snapped as I turned to look at her again. "Why did you not pull away? Why was your tongue in his mouth? It's not like I saw him kiss you for a second, Danny. I stood there for a good long while and you did nothing to stop him."

We were close to the stage by now, and I ignored the few people that looked over at us. I stared at Danny with raised eyebrows and she looked saddened.

"Look, if you didn't like pussy anymore, you could've just told me..." I sighed.

"That wasn't it!" She cut me off. "I loved you, Charlie. I really did. And I know you still feel something for me."

"Yeah, it's called hatred." I rolled my eyes again.

Danny sighed and closed her eyes, and I just hummed, unimpressed, and turned to walk away again. But Danny turned me once again and this time put her lips on mine.

I didn't move for a second, mainly because I was too shocked. But when it registered in my head what was happening, just as she was about to lick over my lip, I grabbed her smoothie cup and kicked her in her shin as hard as I could.

Danny then let out a little yelp as she stumbled and fell, and looked up at me from the ground. "What the hell, Charlie?!"

I didn't answer. Instead, I took the lid off of her smoothie cup, took a sip, decided I didn't like it, then dumped it on her face and her hair. I tossed the cup and lid onto her and turned to walk away, sipping my own smoothie.

I saw Kai up ahead and sped up a little to join him. His hand met my back, and I was almost worried he would be mad at me. But instead, he kissed my forehead and lead me away.

"I'm sorry," I said softly once we weren't around so many people.

"You have nothing to be sorry for, Charlie. We'll get her. Soon." He rubbed my back, and I smiled a little.

"I had an idea. What to do with her." I said.

"Yeah? What's that?" Kai tugged me a little closer, making me smile wider.

"I have to do a little research and planning first," I said.

"Oh, alright. I'll get you home, as long as I can be there while you're planning." He said and I grinned up at him.

"Deal." I nodded and he gave me a kiss before we got in his car.


	24. Chapter 24

A few days later, we had a plan and let Ivy in on it, as she was going to be a big part of it.

Kai went and kidnapped Danny as I set everything up in the basement at his house. When he brought her in, we strapped her down and had the airtight bags and ice-filled coolers ready to go.

"What do we need?" Kai asked and I looked over the list.

"Lungs, heart, spleen, a leg, and some meat from her thighs," I said, then set it down again. We cut her clothes away, and she had started to wake up and panic.

"Use her shirt or something to gag her," Kai said and I went and forced the fabric between her teeth and tied it tight.

Kai worked on her leg and getting meat off of her thighs while I cut out her organs. Then we sealed them in airtight bags and put the bags in coolers of ice to preserve the meat. Danny was now dead, as it was hard to live without lungs... or a heart.

"I'll deal with her body. You take these to Ivy, I'll meet you there later." Kai said and I nodded. He then came over and kissed me a little harder than I expected.

"Finally I get to wine and dine you." He sighed against my lips, and one of my brows rose.

"...I don't drink?" I said, wondering how he could 'wine' and dine me if I didn't drink.

Kai then rolled his eyes. "Diet Coke and dine you, then."

"We'll work on it." I patted his arm and gave him another kiss before I took the coolers to my car and drove to The Butchery.

"You got everything?" Ivy asked when she let me in, and I gave her a cooler. "I've never actually worked with human meat before. But there's a first time for everything." She gave me a little smile.

"Where's Kai?" She asked as we went into the kitchen, and I grabbed a glass and went to fill it with diet coke.

"He's coming. He's got to get rid of the body, first." I said as Ivy looked over the recipes and matched each meat to each recipe.

"What are we telling the others?" She asked.

"When she doesn't show up, Kai will say she went back home to start a branch there. When they realize that she hasn't been checking in, then we can say she went missing, she never made it home." I explained, and Ivy nodded.

"How'd you come up with these recipes, Charlie?" She asked as she got ingredients.

"I'm a fan of Hannibal Lecter." I nodded slowly as I sipped from a straw, watching her.

"I can see that." Ivy hummed. She seemed to not mind as I watched her cook. I liked to watch people cook. Something about it was relaxing to me. And Ivy was working on a number of dishes all at once, which just amazed me. I offered to help with small things, but Ivy gave me a smile and said it was better if she did everything, as she was a little bossy in the kitchen.

Kai joined us and sat next to me. He told us he sent out a text for everyone to be here in an hour or so, and Ivy asked what the occasion was, other than covering up Danny's murder.

"I learned earlier today that I'm up even more points, so at this point, the campaign is in the bag," Kai said, and I smiled widely.

"That's great," I said and he gave me a smile before he kissed my forehead.

"You need to keep it up with these amazing speeches, Charlie. They're really drawing people in. You know how to use words." He praised me, and I rolled my eyes.

"Forming words is one thing, but giving life to them is another, and that's all you, Kai," I said. Kai took my hand and pressed a kiss to it, looking so happy.

Ivy did let me help plate things and carry them out to the restaurant part, and Kai went to let the others in.

"What's this?" Beverly asked.

"A celebration," Kai said. "Our victory has been ensured today." He said, and they all looked overjoyed and cheered.

Once everything was set out and drinks were poured, we sat down and began to eat.

"Holy fuck, Ivy." I stared at her, and she gave a bashful smile. "I might just move into your restaurant." I hummed and looked around.

"As if," Kai said. "You couldn't leave those chickens."

I frowned, knowing he was right. "Yeah, I couldn't leave those chickens if I tried."

"You have chickens?" R.J. stared at me.

"These big, completely black chickens with shiny feathers." Kai nodded.

"Ayam Cemani chickens," I said with a little smile.

"You fucking have Ayam Cemani chickens?" Ivy stared at me in shock. "How many?"

"A dozen or so," I said and she sputtered.

"Those go up to two thousand dollars per bird. And you have a _dozen_?!" She looked shocked.

"They're actually my uncle's..." I looked away and sipped some coke.

"What other animals do your uncles have?" Kai asked.

"Five dogs and thirty-something fish," I said.

"Are they rich or something?" Winter asked and Kai nodded, and I threw him a look.

"Wait, are your uncles Noah and Louis Dietrich?" Ivy asked and I nodded slowly. "Holy shit."

"So, do you live up at that huge house with the gates?" Harrison asked.

"Does it really matter?" I asked.

"No. Not really." Kai said, sweeping his eyes across everybody. "It doesn't really matter where any of us come from, only where we're going to be."

A little smirk then came to his face. "We're going to be huge."


	25. Chapter 25

It started with people in other cities spray painting our logo where anyone and everyone could see it. The most popular places were government windows and doors. After everyone got tired of cleaning them off, only for them to reappear, they started sticking around and became a more permanent fixture in the world.

We didn't have an official name. Some called us The Clowns, others called us The Cult. Kai didn't seem to mind either, though he kept us nameless, as he had a thing about titles and labels.

When we had a large enough following, Kai released a video explaining what we believed in, so people would fully understand.

He also released a video introducing each of us in the inner circle. We had our masks on and posters with our clown's names on them. Kai as 3D, Winter as Puzzles, Flops as Ivy, Holes as Harrison, Ballgag as Meadow, Brainiac as Jack, Pentagram as Beverly, Kooks as R.J., The Bump as Gary, and Jokesy as me.

Nearly overnight we had become a global sensation. We were fucking viral. And years later, The Cult was still large and very, very active.

Many people were a little freaked when suddenly The Clowns showed up in D.C., but we also saw support there. We also saw some people claiming that Kai was a member of The Cult, mostly thanks to him having blue hair. When was the last time a politician running for president had blue hair? Never.

They were right, of course, and I asked Kai one night as we lied together if he would ever reveal himself as the leader. He told me he was thinking about it, but he wanted to check what the approval rating would be if he did come out as the leader.

"Well, whenever you do want to come out, I have the perfect idea of how to," I said and saw him grin.

So, some weeks later, we had two videos recorded, just like we did with the Mike Pence stunt, then Kai decided to go missing for a few days to upload them from a secure location. Meanwhile, I stayed in the white house, acting worried when none of the Secret Service could find my husband.

Then the first video came. It was short, just Kai bound and gagged in a chair with the clowns around him, and one (Harrison) held him up by his hair to show who he was.

Needless to say, it effectively sent the world into a state of panic. I mean, the U.S. was a superpower. What would happen when our leader was compromised like this?

Global chaos, that's what.

I pointed out to Kai that anytime there was even a whisper of something going wrong, it sent people into a frenzy. There was one time where a tweet was sent out that the white house had been attacked and Obama was injured, which obviously wasn't true, but in the four minutes until another tweet was sent to fix the confusion, the stock market had already dropped, and it had already been spread globally and sent people into madness.

So, I told Kai, what do you think were to happen if they had proof their leader was in trouble?

He immediately understood my point and we began staging his 'kidnapping'.

Once everyone was thoroughly panicked, Kai uploaded the next video. This one was longer and started with a series of clips of us as The Cult caught on tape. It then cut to Kai, still bound and gagged, then two clowns (me and Winter) coming over and freeing him. Then one clown (Beverly) got his 3D mask and he put it on, basically revealing who he was, who we were.

So Kai came back and gave me a big grin when he slipped into our room. "Have you seen the internet?" He asked and I nodded. "It's like a fucking bomb went off."

"You're going to have to make an appearance to talk about this, you know," I said as Kai began undressing.

"That can wait." He rolled his eyes and leaned down to kiss me as he undid the buttons on his shirt. I kissed him back and let him do as he wanted, as he was in such a good mood.

The next day, the appearance was held, and I had to get prettied up to appear beside Kai because that's what First Ladies do.

Kai and I both knew that it would be asked who the other members of the inner circle were. As I was a member, his second, he asked if I wanted who I was to be known.

So when the question was asked, Kai looked back at me, and I stood up and made my way to the podium and stood beside him as his arm came around me.

"I am," I answered. "We are the only two of the ten revealing ourselves. We've spoken to the others and have all agreed that they will remain anonymous until complete safety of their identities is ensured."

It was then asked who I was, as Kai was 3D.

"Jokesy," I answered.

"The green haired one in the purple suit?" The reporter asked, then the room was filled with 'oh's.

"See the connection now?" I hummed, and Kai chuckled next to me.

It didn't take long for everyone's safety was ensured, and Kai called for a meeting to tell them all that.

"So we're coming out?" Beverly asked.

"If you don't want to, you don't have to," I said, just to make that clear.

"And not get the respect I deserve? As if." She scoffed, and I grinned widely.

"We should have a movie made about us," R.J. said. "Or a book written. Something to share our success story."

Kai snapped his fingers and pointed at him. "Yes. Let's go with a book. I'd hate to think about the actor they'd choose to play me."

"Oh, God, you're right." My lip suddenly curled. Who would they think would be fitting to play me? What if it was someone awful?

"We better not get anyone shitty to write it either," I said. "Someone already recognized who people like to read," I said and they nodded in agreement.

So we got that ball rolling. Everyone was introduced, and I sent out the announcement that we were looking for a writer to help share our story.

Once we found one, we had a very long meeting that was just him taking notes on our memories and getting an order of events. What he started with was asking how we met Kai. We went around and I was a little surprised to hear how some of them met Kai. Kai jerked off in front of Harrison? He fucked Jack? He _almost_ fucked Meadow? No one ever told me this shit.

"What about you, Charlie?" He looked at me.

"I was the last to join..." I started.

"No, there was Danny. Remember?" Harrison said.

"Danny wasn't a real member," I said.

"We were planning her death the moment she left the basement." Kai nodded.

"Anyway, I just moved to Michigan..." I hummed.

"Why'd you move?" He asked, and I looked up.

"My mom had just died. I... didn't really know what to do with myself, so my uncles offered me a place to live with them. Aside from my mom, they were the last members of my family I actually liked." I pursed my lips. "Anyway, I was out to turn in this job application, and as I was about to get into my car, some asshole bumps into me and makes me drop my keys. Kai appeared out of thin air, handed me my keys, and we got to talking."

"She thought I was so suspicious." Kai smiled a little.

"You were suspicious," I smirked. "I could clock a cult from a mile away. I told you it runs in the family." I hummed.

"What?" The writer just stared at me.

I slouched down a little in my seat and raised my hand as I talked. "Started with my grandpa on my mom's side. Don't ask me what the cult was called, I don't remember. They only accepted white men, so you already knew that was fucked up. But, they did have like sub-cults for the kids of the members, one for the sons, and one for the daughters. So when my mom and her three brothers were old enough, he had them join. The sons had a choice to join the main cult when they reached the right age, and only one of the three did that. Mom couldn't, cos she's female, so she just left. And yeah, she could've married one of the members, but she didn't want to." I shrugged a little, then let my hand drop as I was done gesturing like there was a family tree in front of me.

I looked back at the writer. "I sorta freaked Kai out when I called him out, and he just gave me an address and told me to think about it. So I did, a little, and decided it was my turn to join one at this point, so what the hell."

Kai then explained how he hooked us with the pinky trick. He'd ask what put dread in our hearts and what we feared most, and he then promised to eliminate both. He then asked us if he fulfilled his promises, to which we all said yes.

We ran through a list of events, going into detail with some, some others, not so much.

One we didn't go into detail on was the test Kai put me through when I first joined. Kai explained that I passed the test, but it was a failed test at the same time because he fucked up. Then R.J. brought up how Kai never explained how he fucked up that time, and Kai still refused to answer, which made me smile softly.

We went through all of Meadow's bullshit, to which the writer looked particularly disturbed when we revealed what she did that made me want to cut her tongue out, and Kai actually doing it for me. He also looked disturbed at when she brought in my ex to fuck up more shit, and we all whipped her as her punishment. Then everyone looked a little disturbed when Kai revealed the second part of her punishment that night, which was forcing her to realize what she could never have, and he did this by fingering me right in front of her.

My favorite bit there was when the room was quiet and Winter just whispered out, "So _that's_ why you were naked..."

We got through the schemes and stunts and all that shit with Danny, where Kai also revealed that we all ate her, she didn't go missing and went through everything that's happened in the last five years.

He planned to get started on writing it immediately and left. The room was quiet, then Winter sighed.

"We're a little fucked up, aren't we?"

"Just a little more than a little." Beverly smiled.

I couldn't keep the smile off my face if I tried.


End file.
